Humanity Lost
by arya-starkles
Summary: Mitchell meets Annie at the bar and he gives into his blood-lust, making Annie into a vampire. he feels bad for what he did, and he offers to help her through it. Annie, of course, isn't too keen on the idea of being a vampire but she has the choice of either being under Mitchell's wing or Herricks…or the choice of ending it all with one stab to her chest.
1. Chapter 0 - Prologue

Annie's POV:

Her friends were right; she needed to get out more. And that's exactly what she did.

They had been sitting and drinking for hours, talking about their lives, giggling and gossiping. Annie wasn't really in the mood, she had barely finished her second drink as she sat there silently, absently playing with her neon yellow straw. Her eyes wandered around until it caught a face…and a handsome face for that. Annie could make out his features pretty well; the flashing lights gave her quick hints of him; the black curls which sat just above his shoulders, the hint of stubble along his jaw and his dark eyes. Annie shook her head to stop herself. She had a fiancée at home, and she was in no position to lust over some other guy. No, no. _You have morals, Annie, _she whispered to herself. He caught her looking and grinned.

So she looked away for a bit, trying to focus on the conversation going on. _They want to dance_. Annie made a blubbering sound with her mouth and slumped back on her chair. _Why did I even come here if I'm just going to sit around? _

"You coming, babes?" her friend asked as they all shuffled from the booth.

"Um…" she looked down at her drink, then back up, smiling slightly. "Sure."

They danced for a bit, the alcohol finally taking over her body with a bubbling sensation. Annie giggled as she danced, her hands messing up her thick brown curls. Her back was turned, her head was looking over her shoulder and she saw him again, leaning back on the bar, the corners of his mouth raised up as he drank.

After that, it was all fuzzy, she only remembered two things: she remembered leaving with him and then she remembered being in a barely lit alley. She was against a wall and he smiled, his green eyes dark. His lips came close to her neck, he was reluctant at first, a hint of fear in his eyes which made him look like a frightened child, and then suddenly, his eyes turned black, and he bared two fangs. There was an excruciating pain after that, but then it faded and she felt light and dreamy.

Annie woke up screaming. She had a nightmare, but she was thankful that it was over. She turned her head, expecting to see Owen asleep next to her, and that would make her feel better—it always did. But she found the space next to her empty, and really, there wasn't any space next to her. She was on a metal bed with a white sheet draped over her. She realized that she wasn't in her room, but some other room with white, marble walls and wooden floors. Two warm hands rested on her shoulders and a calming voice spoke.

"Shh," it said, "You're okay now. You're safe."

"Where am I?" she cried out, shaking. He kept rubbing her shoulders for comfort.

"You're home now."

"This _isn't _my home!" she shouted, looking back. "It's…it's _you_…from the club. What did you do to me! Why am I here?!" Annie would've continued with questions, but she was silenced by another voice.

"I'm terribly sorry for all this," he said, walking over to her and kissing her hand gently. "Mitchell here,"—he nodded his head over to the mysterious man from the club—"is terrible at controlling himself when he sees a beautiful young lady like yourself walking around. My deepest and sincerest apologies for _any _distress my associate has caused." He looked at Mitchell who just groaned. "Oh!" the man said, "Where are my manners? My name is William Herrick, but everyone just simply calls me Herrick. What's your name?"

"A…Annie."

"Annie _what_, my dear?"

"Sawyer."

"Annie Sawyer," he said, nodding to Mitchell, "is a lovely name."—he smiled at her—"Would you like a cup of tea?"

Tea sounded great now, but she didn't want to accept anything from the people who captured her. "No," she said, "I don't even know why I'm here or what you want with me. You're strangers to me."

"Yes, yes, of course," said Herrick as he walked back and dragged a chair along to the side of the metal bed. Annie realized that she was in her underwear, and she was quick to jump to conclusions.

"Did you guys…uh," she looked down at her body, and her underwear could vaguely been seen through the white sheet. Herrick scoffed.

"Oh, good heavens, no! Nothing like that, Annie!" Herrick rubbed his nose and continued. "You see, Annie, you've _changed. _Your entire DNA sequence, your mind, your entire body is going through a change right now, and not a very comfortable change. Mitchell, over there, fed from you, his blood-lust took over his morals—"

"—His morals?" she asked, cutting him off.

Herrick adjusted his cuffs, "Yes," he said, "Mitchell was trying to go clean, he tried to abstain but he obviously failed. You see, what he did with you was, yes, try to feed from you with the intention of death, but half way through, he managed to stop himself and thus, the transformation began. You are now a vampire."

"I'm a…a vampire?"

"Yes."

"You're kidding me, aren't you?" she chuckled, "Where are the cameras?"

"Even if there were camera's around, they wouldn't see us." Mitchell said as he flicked through a magazine, his Irish accent thick and annoyed.

"I don't believe you," she said, breathing heavily. "You're messing with me."

"You do believe me, Annie," he said, "but you're fighting it, as if the lie will soothe you. Very well, feed yourself with whatever lies you wish but it will all be for naught since you are what you are now, and nothing, _nothing, _can stop it. This is human evolution; you're _better, _you're _stronger, _and faster than you were before when you were human, a mere mortal. You should be thanking us, isn't that right, Mitchell?"

Mitchell scoffed and continued reading.

"I'm a _monster _now," Annie pressed on, "I shouldn't be thanking you for that!"

"This is all part of the process, my dear." He smiled sweetly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "Soon you will realize that this is a glorious gift. However, sometimes it takes longer for some other people to realize that"—he looked at Mitchell and turned back to Annie, rubbing her back. "Mitchell's going to take care of you for a bit while I sort out the paper work. Terrible how much paperwork goes into a new recruit—it's insane!"

Herrick left and Mitchell came over with her dress. "We cleaned the blood off it, so I'll leave you to get changed." Mitchell walked out and closed the door. Annie finally began to cry, but silently so she wouldn't catch anyone's attention.

_A vampire, _she thought. Her entire life flashed before her eyes, past and future. She would never get married, she would never have kids, she'll never see Owen again; never see him laugh, or shave or get dressed. Little Annie who wouldn't even kill a fly was now, and will be forever, a vampire—a fanged, immortal, blood-sucking vampire. The thought of never dying, of always staying the same seemed like an attractive thought to her at first, but the bitter truth hit her like a truck; she'll see everyone she's ever loved die around her, and she'll be alone for God knows how long with no escape from it.

Annie pulled herself together and got changed. There was no point in fighting it anymore, she wasn't Annie Sawyer anymore; she was shell of her former self. She left her old life, and stepped into another, just as frightening as the last. Annie felt dizzy; she was hungry, thirsty for _something_, and that's when it hit her. _Blood lust. _She needed blood now, and she wanted it from Mitchell.


	2. Chapter 1 - Yer a Vampire Annie

Annie saw Mitchell waiting for her outside the door; his back was on the wall as he smoked a cigarette, the stench made her wrinkle her nose. She hated the smell of nicotine.

"So…Mr. Mitchell," her voice was teasing, as if all of her fear had suddenly vanished as she began to mess with this big, bad boy vampire.

"_Just _Mitchell, thanks." He said, throwing the drag to the floor and swishing it with the tip of his black boot. "Anyway, Herrick said I have to take care of you for a while, so I guess I have to take you home."

"I don't want to go _anywhere _with you," she said, crossing her arms, "Last time I went somewhere with you, I became a bloody vampire. So yeah, no thanks."

He rolled his eyes, "It's either that or you're sticking with Seth, and trust me, you don't want to do that."

"Why?"

"He'll probably stare at your boobs while you talk, and on the off chance that he _does _do eye contact, then it's just…weird." Mitchell shuddered and began to pick dirt from underneath his nails, waiting patiently for her answer.

"Ugh," she breathed out, "Fine."

He walked her over to his car, his hand occasionally brushing her back. Annie was determined to not let the awkward touching affect her. She looked down at her fingers and saw the silver band—her engagement ring. _Maybe this is a horrible dream, and I'll have my Owen back. Everything will be okay. _The ring, it seemed, was the last piece of evidence which proved her humanity.

Annie entered the car and they began to drive. It wasn't a far drive to his place, but it seemed like forever thanks to the silence they shared.

"So," Annie smacked her legs, "How old are you?"

"Over a hundred," he shrugged, "How old are _you_?" he said, mocking her.

"I was twenty-two,"—Mitchell coughed awkwardly—"And really? You're over a hundred? You must've been around during the first war, right?"

"I was _in _it."

"That's _so _cool!" She smiled. "You're like history on legs!"

He shrugged again, breathing out, "Perks of being a vampire, I guess?"

The rest of the ride was in silence, and Annie was thankful to have finally arrived at the house. It was a cute little house, rusty and pink. It had a certain charm to it which Annie liked.

When she stepped out of the car, she almost collapsed. Mitchell caught her before she could hit the pavement.

"Woah," he said, looking down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and she felt so…_sick. _Annie knew it was her blood lust, she could feel it screaming at her, scratching into her skin. She gulped.

"Thirsty…" she managed to croak and Mitchell sighed, some curls falling to his forehead. He lifted her back up, and she put her arm around him as he led her inside.

"George?" he called out. No response. _Another vampire? _"Good, he isn't here." He mumbled under his breath. She would've asked who this George was, but she was too tired to even speak, or open her mouth for that matter.

He took her upstairs, slowly but surely to make sure she didn't fall down the stairs and hurt herself. He told her that this usually happened at first. "The first wave of lust hits you harder than a hangover after Saint Patricks Day, trust me."

Finally, she was upstairs and he took her into the bathroom. Annie climbed into the bathtub and groaned. She looked up, her vision slightly blurry; it was a chore to even keep them open. He ran a hand through his hair and balled his fists together.

"I'll be back in a second, okay? Stay right there." He ran to the door and eyed her quickly before he slammed it shut. He came back a few seconds later with a bag of blood, like the ones you would see in a hospital.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" she asked, dazed.

"Drink it," he said, cutting the top off. "It isn't as good as the fresh stuff, but I don't want to expose you to live feeding right now."

Annie looked at him, her eyes slightly watery and red. She looked back at the bag with fear. She _knew _this was it; _one sip and I'm not human anymore_. _One sip and I'm not Annie Sawyer anymore. _It was like one side of her brain fought against it, whist the other yearned for it. Chewing her lip, she raised it to her lips, a drop fell on her, and she quickly pushed the bag away.

"No," she said, looking at Mitchell who was sitting on the toilet seat, watching her carefully. "If I drink this, then it's real, I won't be _me _anymore, and I can't handle that. No, I'll fight this, I can fight it. I'm stronger than this. I don't need this, I'll find alternatives, you'll see."

He sighed as bent down to the edge of the bathtub. His green eyes wandered around her face, like he was studying her. His eyes showed disappointment, as if he could see right through her, the naivety of her response. Annie knew she couldn't do it, that was the ugly truth about being a vampire, wasn't it? No escape from this brutal immortal life.

"I tried doing that once." He said, the corners of his mouth curving down as he shrugged sadly. "And I was going well until I met you, and something just clicked in my head. I lost control and I gave into the power, the hunger, and I fed. I want to help you, really I do. I feel terrible for what I did to you and I want to redeem myself by helping you and you're not letting me help you right now."

"How is having blood helping me?" she asked, the desire for blood subsiding enough for her to concentrate.

"In order for the change to work, and for you to not go insane, you need a first feed. After that, your body will finish the change correctly. If you have this first feed, then I can help you—we can both help each other—go clean from blood."

"You're sure about this?" she asked, gently lifting the bag back up.

"Positive."

And so she drank, and she felt the gap between her and humanity get wider and wider with every chug. It wasn't a pleasant taste at first, but then the bitter metallic taste changed into something sweet, yet sour; it was thick and creamy. Annie drank it eagerly, but she wanted more, nay, she needed more, and she didn't want old blood, she wanted new and warm blood which oozed of life. Annie didn't even know what fresh blood would taste like but her body somehow knew. It made her edgy, just the thought of her first kill. She grabbed his plaid shirt and pulled him closer, their faces almost touching. Her mouth was covered in blood, and his lips twitched at the sight of it. _Don't give into it, Annie, _a voice urged. _Drink, my love, drink from him, _urged another.

Annie licked her lips, but Mitchell shook his head and gently pushed her away. "One more should suffice, wait here."

He left and she leaned back, her hands tapping the sides of the slightly rusted tub. Annie began to get impatient; the urgency of it all was too much for her. So she jumped from the tub and ran downstairs, rushing to the door. She opened it, and Mitchell peeked his head through the kitchen slit, going wide-eyed when he saw her. She waved with her fingers and slammed the door behind her, quickly running away from the house. She managed to find an alley with someone walking down it. There was a man of average height, pale skin and short hair. He looked at her, noticing the blood, his blue eyes going wide.

"Oh, not again…" he groaned. He turned around, preparing to flee; she caught him before he could leave. She licked her lips and lowered her mouth to his neck. He struggled, he was strong…but she was _stronger. _

"ANNIE!" Mitchell yelled and she stopped rolling her eyes.

"I need it _fresh, _Mitchell!" she yelled back, "None of your bagged stuff!"

"Is this friend of yours, Mitchell?" the man asked nonchalantly. Annie eyed the man curiously, her eyes flicking from him to Mitchell.

"How do you know Mitchell?"

"I'm his flatmate."

"Jesus Christ," she sighed, her head dropping. "Another goddamn vampire?"

"Werewolf," he shrugged.

Annie sniffed him, and she could finally smell it on him. He reeked of wet dog. It made her gag. "You're mates with a werewolf? Jesus, what else exists?"

"A lot of stuff, Annie," Mitchell said as he stepped closer, putting his arm around her and gently removing her from his friend. "It's okay, Annie, you're okay now."

"Is there something you're not telling me, Mitchell?"

"George, this really isn't the time to explain." Mitchell said, looking back at his annoyed friend. "Could you help me with her?"

"Why would I want to help the girl almost tried to kill me?"

"Because I told you to help me," he said, teeth clenched. "She's a day old; show a little respect for her."

George groaned and draped her other arm around his shoulder. "Don't know why I should be helping her. It's not like vampires show any respect for lycos." George muttered low enough for Mitchell not to hear.

They dragged her back to the house without anyone seeing her. Mitchell opened the door and they dragged her to the couch. She fell on it and curled into a little ball. Annie whimpered and Mitchell and George stared at her, their hands on their hips.

"Care to explain _why _there's a baby vampire in our house?" asked George.

"I found her, and she had only just changed. I wanted to help her." That was a lie, she knew, but she was far too tired to respond so she just snuggled and continued listening.

"Mitchell?" George asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," said Mitchell as he continued to look at Annie.

"Tell me truthfully," he said, "Did you change her?"

Mitchell froze slightly, and Annie looked up, peeking through the curls which covered her brown eyes. "No, of course I didn't change her! I'm clean, remember?"

"Hm…" George nodded, sighing. _He drags me into this world and then he totally dismisses it. _"Right," he said, "So what are you going to do with her, then?"

"I can't just throw her out on the streets, George!"

"Nor can you keep her here, Mitchell." George argued, "You're trying to be clean, and you _can't _be clean if you have an active vampire around. She'll be a bad influence on you."

"Look, she's a day old. I can teach her _how _to control it and _maybe _she can be clean like I am. It's worth a try, right?"

"And what if she doesn't go clean, huh?" George asked, shaking his head. "Look," he sighed, wiping his forehead, "You deal with her. I'm too tired for this."

George left and Mitchell just stood there, his head turned towards the staircase until he heard a door close. He made a blubbering sound and looked up at the celling.

He scrunched his nose and bent down next to the couch. Mitchell moved one of the curls from her eyes and stared at her for a few seconds; the blood was still splattered on her face, but it looked dry, and her eyes were droopy and tired.

"What am I going to do with you?" he sighed.

[**NOTE**: Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you liked it, and if you did, it would be lovely if you left a review on it. I just want to see if anyone would be interested in reading it further.]


	3. Chapter 2 - Someone To Lean On

There were two men standing right in front of her, sticks in the hands. Annie couldn't see their faces; they were black, warped shadows which stood out from the blinding whiteness of the room. She didn't know who they were, or where she was, but she knew it wasn't going to end well.

They took a step closer to her, and she could make out more of them. They were hooded figures with faces which resembled skulls.

"Annie," the one on the left whispered.

The one on the right extended his hand out to her, and she was reluctant to hold it, but when she did, a horrible chill went down her spine, as if a cold, dead finger was running up and down it.

Annie was shook awake by a confused and somewhat tired George. Annie heard a loud sound coming from the stars, _boom, boom, boom. _It was Mitchell, rushing down the stairs in nothing but his black boxer shorts. He pushed some curls from his face and rushed beside her.

"What happened? Why are you screaming?" he asked, catching his breath.

_I was screaming? _Funny, she didn't remember screaming in her dream. Whatever happened, it was over now, and she was thankful.

"There were two men, in a white room, waiting for me—that's all," she assured the boys, "It's over now, I'm okay now. You can go back to sleep. I'm sorry for waking you guys up."

"That makes sense," Mitchell uttered, as if he was talking to himself. "The first week or so of being a vampire is like that," he explained, "Horrible dreams about men in black. Tell me, did they ask you to come with them?"

"They didn't ask," she lifted herself up into a sitting position, her entire body stiff. "One of them gave me their hand and I took it, and then I woke up."

"Jesus," he chewed his nail, "Don't take their hand, _ever, _okay? You're lucky you woke up when you did, Annie."

"Why?" she asked, shifting in her seat, "What happens?"

"Bad things, Annie."

Annie didn't press on the subject. Her head throbbed. She put her hand on her head and groaned, looking up to Mitchell who just sighed, his arms crossed.

"So what's on today's agenda?" she asked, her voice going high, the headache slowly subsiding. "Are you going to teach me the finer details of vampirism? Are we going to go out and tear someone's throat out?" George coughed in surprise, but she smiled. "Okay, maybe no throat-ripping then." Mitchell looked at George and laughed.

"Oh, vampire humour?" George asked, making a face. "You two already have inside jokes? Brilliant. Thought you were done with vamps, Mitchell, but it seems I was wrong."

"She isn't like the others, George," he explained, "I can change her, make her better."

That made Annie feel a little fuzzy inside, and then she remembered. _Owen. _She had totally forgotten about him, and how she would tell him about this. He wouldn't want to marry a vampire. But maybe, he'll still love her enough to look past it. _Vampires can have normal lives, right? _

"What's going to happen to Owen?" she asked.

"Who?" the boys both asked in unison.

"My fiancée, Owen," she corrected, "What's going to happen to him?"

"She has a fiancée?" George said, astounded. "That's just brilliant, Mitchell."

"You can't tell him anything about all this," Mitchell said, "It's too risky."

Annie scoffed, "No one's going to believe him! He'll tell people, and they'll think he's gone mad from stress—they know how much stress he's under at work, so they'll forgive him."

"_Unless,_" George cut in, "He proves it by bringing them over and putting a mirror in front of you. They'll see themselves, and _not _you. Not many humans know about this world, Annie. And the ones who know are either dead before they can tell anyone, they're called insane, _or _they have some hushed partner-ship. Mitchell shot him a look, "…but yeah, you can't tell anyone or else _everyone _in this world is at danger."

"I can't just leave him in the dark!" she yelled, standing up, her curls flying around.

"You're going to have to, Annie." Mitchell mused. "You can't live with him and hide it forever. Someone did, and they ended killing their entire family—not intentionally, but this Owen is safer not knowing."

"So what happens, then, huh?" Annie asked, stepping towards Mitchell, still in his briefs. "Am I supposed to leave my _entire _life behind—my fiancée, my friends, my job—_because _of _you!_?"

"Mitchell," asked George, side-eying his friend. "What did she mean by _because of you_?"

"Nothing," Mitchell said, "She's just a little mad, she didn't mean it."

_Stop lying, Mitchell. Tell him what you did; tell him what you did to me, what it's cost me. Tell him your little mistake. _Annie was furious that he wasn't saying anything, so she told George what he did, and she felt terrible for telling him. She felt sorry for Mitchell, and yet, she betrayed him.

"He bit me," she said, "He did this to me—he _ruined _my life." Annie couldn't stand to look Mitchell any longer, she wanted to hit him, kick him, and she wanted to yell at him until her throat went dry, until she couldn't speak any longer. Annie could feel the frustration heating her cheeks, flooding her eyes. She ran upstairs, fleeing to a fairly empty room for some solace. It was a nice room; beige walls with a little chair in the centre. She sat on the chair, her chin resting on her knees.

The walls and floors were thin enough for her to hear their conversation. She didn't really want to hear what they were saying but she had no choice but to listen. George and Mitchell were on the verge of yelling at each other. George kept pressing on, saying things like, "I thought you were clean, Mitchell!" and, "What else have you been keeping from Mitchell? Are you back with _them _again?" and then Mitchell would deny his accusations saying it was a moment of weakness, that he can try again, that this is why he brought her in, to make it a group effort. Annie began to cry silently.

The fighting stopped after a couple of minutes, but she didn't really hear the rest of the conversation, the ringing in her ears, and her sobs drowned it all out. Before she knew it, there was a knock at the door, and her head shot up.

"Go away," she croaked.

"It's me," Mitchell said softly, "Please, let me in."

"I don't want to see you," her voice was hushed, "_Go away._"

"You don't have to see me," he said, his voice soft like silk, "We can talk through the door, it doesn't matter. I just need to talk everything out with you."

"You're just going to yell at me," she said, her voice shaky.

"I'm _not _going to yell at you, Annie. I'm not mad at you for telling him, for anything, he needed to know, I was just too scared to face his disappointment. Just…_please. _Can we talk about this?"

Annie slowly rose from her chair and stepped forward to the door, her hand on the door knob. She stayed there for a moment. The house was silent, so she could hear him breathing, a mix between panic and sadness—that broke her heart.

Finally, she turned the knob and sat back down on the chair. He stood there in the door way for a few seconds, his expression breaking her heart again. He was dressed now; jeans and a yellow shirt. He walked over and sat himself down at the side of the chair, his arms were crossed on the arm of the chair, and his chin rested in arms. He breathed out.

"I know you're mad at me, really, I know the feeling—a hundred years and you don't really forget that kind of stuff—" he trailed off, but then got back on topic, "—anyway, I can help you, you might not want my help, but I can at least offer you that. This life is hard and you can't do it alone. You can either let me help you or go back to Herrick, and _those _vampires are the bad guys. They promote the killing, they let the vampires run freely and—"

"—bad guys?" she asked, "The line between good and bad seem to be blurred when it comes to vampires, Mitchell. You can't call yourself the good guy when you've fallen off the path."

"And you're right," he said, "But I make mistakes sometimes, we all do. The type of people like Herrick and his vampires are dangerous; they have no concept of mercy, no morals."

"Funny, a vampire talking about morality," she chuckled, "Now I've heard everything."

"Just…" he said, "hear me out, okay?" Annie nodded, and he continued. "It's your choice: me, or Herrick. I can't make the decision for you, but Herrick will be expecting your answer soon."

Annie gave it some thought; she didn't like the idea of killing innocent people when she isn't itching for it. The whole vampire thing sucked. She was Annie to a certain degree; she still had feelings, she still had her morality, her own thoughts, but she was almost a vampire, and that seemed to rip those things apart and change everything. Mitchell thinks there are only two choices, but Annie knew one other…

"There's another choice," she said quietly, and Mitchell looked up, confused.

"What's the other choice?"

"Stake through the heart, that's all it takes, right? One stab and I leave the nightmare. And if it's still a dream, then it'll just wake me up, right? I escape either way."

"You're not going to commit vampire-suicide, Annie," he said, his tone getting more serious. "You're not leaving like that on my watch. You're far too young to even think about that!"

"You don't understand Mitchell," she said, wiping a tear from her cheek. _"I was 22; I had my entire life laid out for me and you came along and ripped it away from me, Mitchell. I was engaged to the man I loved more than anything else in this world. I was going to have children, and live in a house somewhere. I was going to be happy - and you took that away from me._You took my humanity_**.**__ And __that's __why I can't continue on like this. I can't run around and pretend to be human when I'm __not."_

_"__I can help you," he said, a hand cupping her cheek. There was an awkward silence as her eyes flicked from his eyes to his hand. He eventually let go, and a rush of cold hair went on her cheek, replacing the warmness he'd left behind. "Please, let me help you."_

_"Mitchell, I can't handle all this," she said, "It's not that I don't want help, it's the fact that I'm not __me __anymore. I can't do the things I've wanted to do anymore; I can't be a wife, I can't have a family, I can't love anyone human anymore. I can't do __anything!__"_

_"The family thing might be a problem, but other than that, you can still do normal things. I've seen vampire couples, I've seen vampires get married and they're perfectly happy with each other. Sure, you may not be with Owen anymore, but there's always someone else out there."_

_"He was the __one, __though," she said, "The one I was supposed to be with."_

_"That's such a childish perception of love; there is more than one person who can be the __one __for you. You haven't met everyone on this world, so you don't know if your Owen is actually the __one. __A nice girl like you can find someone else, I assure you."_

_"I thought being a vampire changes you, I won't be nice anymore."_

_"Ah," he waved his hand dismissively, "They tell the new recruits that to ease them into it, to help them calm down when they make their first kill and stuff. No…" he looked at her, his lower lip was bit slightly, "You're strong; it won't change you too much."_

_"Did you have someone?" she asked, "Before you died, did you have someone that you thought you would be with forever?" _

_Mitchell looked away. He smiled a little, and then looked back at her. "Yeah," he said, "Bianca, she was nurse during the war." He paused, his green eyes wandering around her face. It made Annie feel fuzzy, but she snapped out of it and continued listening. "She looked a little like you, actually; big brown eyes, wild curly hair and a baby fac—"_

_"My hair isn't wild!" she laughed._

_"It is a bit."_

_"Not as bad as yours!"_

_He laughed. "Touché."_

_"So what happened? What's your story?"_

_"We were dating for about two months before the war started. I really loved her, and when the war started, I enlisted, and she decided to enlist too, but as a nurse. I told—begged—her not to, but she insisted on it, saying that she wanted to be with me, and she said that she would patch me up if I got hurt. I was madly in love with her, so much so that I swore that after the war, I would pop the question but…things changed, and I couldn't go back to her."_

_Annie was surprised. The words kept echoing in her head, __she looked a little like you. __She gulped and pushed it from her mind.__"Did you ever find anyone else?" she asked, "Anyone to prove your theory?"_

_"No," he shook his head, looking down. He looked back up, and the corners of his mouth lifted up into a half smirk. "Not yet." _

_Annie got up from her chair and sat on the floor next to Mitchell. Her knees lifted to her chest, hugging herself. Mitchell turned around and sat with her, their arms touching. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Annie could tell he was staring at her, waiting. She did all she could to avoid his gaze. _

_"Am I going to be okay?" she asked._

_He put his arm around her, pulling her in close. "Yeah," he said, "You'll be okay."_


	4. Chapter 3 - The Choice

Annie had asked for some privacy after their little talk, she still found herself dazed from the whole vampire thing. There was a terrible taste in her mouth, a bitter taste that made her feel like she was going to puke—maybe that was the side-effects of having blood for the first time. She'll get used to it; she had an eternity to get used to it, so she figured that she should quit moping around and live through it.

Mitchell was on the couch when she found him; he was rolling a small piece of paper between his fingers, his brows furrowed in concentration as he made his cigarette. _He smokes in the house? Lovely. _Annie was still hiding behind the wall, but her head was poking out, looking at Mitchell. He must've sensed she was there for his head shot up after a few seconds, his face looking pleasantly surprised.

"Annie," he said, "You're all good now?"

_Not really. _"For now," she shrugged, giving him a small smile. _Just smile and nod, Annie. Smile and nod._

Mitchell motioned his hand for her to come over. When she plonked herself down on the leather sofa, he put his cigarette down on the coffee table and he smiled, handing her the remote, asking her if she wanted to watch something on the telly. She agreed and began to flick through the channels absently, although she knew that nothing of note was on. Annie paused on a channel and it so happened to be the news. It caught them both by surprise to see a missing persons report on. Annie grabbed a pillow and hugged it as she stared at the TV.

"The woman is in her early-twenties and she was last seen in a club in Bristol. Her friends recall her leaving with a man in his mid-twenties, however, no one has come forward on what he looks like. Her fiancée speaks out…" Owen then appeared, his hair messy, his eyes red, and his skin was stained with—what she expected were—dried tears.

"Please, someone help us find her," he began, his voice shaky. It broke her heart to watch, to see him so broken over her disappearance. "We're getting married soon. Please, please, help us find her."

Annie felt sick, so she looked away and turned the television off. It was like her entire world was crumbling down around her, like someone was pulling the bricks out one by one, so slowly…so painfully slow. Annie looked down, some curls falling over her eyes, her breath shaky. Mitchell put his hand on her back, rubbing it in slow circles while he shushed her silently, as if she was a baby who needed comforting. He scooted closer and pulled her in into him. She wanted to push him away, to kick him, to punch him, to make him suffer as she was but she was just so…_tired, _so she just accepted the hug and cried into his shirt for a while.

Annie didn't realize she had fallen asleep on him, but he woke her gently by shaking her. It seemed like he didn't move her or anything, but he just left her there to cry herself to sleep, and that was nice. The brightness blinded her, so she squinted and saw Mitchell sitting there, nodding his head back. Annie could smell something nice—pasta. _Dinner must be ready_, she thought, rubbing her nose and groaning as she stood up from the sofa. Mitchell had his hand on her back still as he guided her to their little kitchen. It was a charming little kitchen, each wall seemed to be slightly different; one would be one colour, then another would be wallpaper, and another would be a totally different colour. Utensils littered the countertops, and most of it looked like undone washing. Annie sat down at the end of the table, her back pressed up against the beige wall. Sniffling, she pulled her sleeve down to her wrist and wiped away the remaining tears that were stained on her skin. George walked to the table, a bowl of pasta in his hands. He looked like he was about to ravish the food he had prepared. Mitchell came over, silent, and gave her a bowl full of spaghetti. Annie licked her lips and began eating, careful to not spill any food on their table. Usually she would've ravished something that smelt and tasted _that _good at home, but she was a guest—admittedly, an unexpected and perhaps unwelcomed guest by some, but a guest nonetheless—so she had to eat properly.

Mitchell, who was leaning into the open fridge, looked up and asked Annie what she wanted to drink. She opted for water, considering alcohol would only worsen the headache. He nodded and went over to the sink, filling a cup with water and handing it to her. He took a seat and began eating too. It was silent between the three of them, but faint sounds from the television seemed to fill the air and distract them. Mitchell must've left it on some game show or something.

George finally broke the silence. "So," he began, eyeing Mitchell for less than a second before turning his attention back to Annie. "Tell me about yourself, uh…Annie, was it?"

She nodded, putting her fork down. "Uh, I'm Annie, I'm twenty-two years old and I'm a 'baby' vampire." She shrugged, giving George a smile. She didn't know how much she should tell him.

"Excellent," George said, making a face to Mitchell who just eyed the both of them. "Just bloody excellent," he muttered, playing with one of the meatballs with his fork.

There was no more conversation after that, and Annie felt like that was partly her fault, coming in-between George and Mitchell, surely she had created a wedge between them after their argument, after George found out that Mitchell fell off the wagon. Annie excused herself from the table and thanked them for their meal.

She hurried out and climbed the stairs, heading for the chair room. Annie was tired and desperately wanted to plonk herself down on a bed, although, she didn't _have _a bed, all she had was a chair and the floor, and neither of which were going to end well. Mitchell knocked on the door and crept in, his back pressed up against the door as he closed it. He smacked his lips and came closer.

"Herrick called, and he said that you'll need to make your decision by tomorrow. He knows that I've been trying to get you on my side, and he wants _you _to decide." He said, playing with the frayed ends of his gloves.

Annie thought the worst thing about it was the choice. Should she go with Herrick? Someone who would take care of her and who would give her everything she needed, or Mitchell? The guy who seduced her with his vampire magic and made her into one of his own? The man who pretty much ruined her entire life, her entire future?

Mitchell sighed, asking, "Where are you going to sleep?"

Annie looked around the floor. "Here, I guess."

"No, no," he said, "You can sleep on my bed tonight—you'll need a good night's sleep and I don't think the floor is going to give that to you."

"What about you?"

"I'll take the couch. But after we deal with everything I'll get you an air mattress or something, and we'll put in in here." _He wants me to move in with him and George. He thinks I'm going to pick him. What if I don't? What happens then?_

He led her into his room. There were clothes strewn around the place, and there were knick-knacks scattered along his shelves. Annie was itching to clean it, but she contained herself and sat down on his bed quietly looking up at him.

"Sorry for the mess," he said, cleaning up some of the clothes off the floor and putting them into his wicker basket.

"It's okay," she said, rubbing her nose. "George doesn't like me much, does he?" Mitchell looked at her and shook his head, his face softening as he sat down next to her.

"Don't be silly," he waved a dismissive hand. "Vampires and Werewolves aren't known to co-inhabit, nor are they friendly to each-other. George and I are close, yeah, but usually vampires and werewolves don't get along; they fight, they hate each other. Fangs versus Lycos—it's something that's always just been _there. _It's nothing against you, Annie. He's just being cautious, you know?"

"I'm not going to hurt him."

"I know, but he'll warm up to you soon, don't worry."

Annie nodded, agreeing. She could see where he was coming from. And if she was in his position, she would've done the same thing. Annie rubbed her shoulders, shivering from the cold. Mitchell asked her to lay down as he pulled the covers over her.

"'Night, Annie," he said, his voice slow and deep.

"'Night, Mitchell," she yawned, pulling up the covers and closing her eyes. He flicked off the light and closed the door.

The light streamed through the window, waking Annie up from her deep slumber. Thankfully, she didn't have another nightmare of sorts with the two men. Annie threw the sheets off her and lazily walked over to the bathroom to pee. Closing the door behind her, she sat down and breathed out. _Big day ahead of me, _she remembered. Annie loathed the idea of seeing Herrick, but she had to get it all over with.

The door flung open and there was Mitchell, newspaper in hand. Annie freaked out, covering herself, wide-eyed. "Occupied!" she cried out and he turned on his heel and closed the door behind him, utterly shocked.

Annie washed her hands and walked out, surprised to see Mitchell waiting by the door. He muttered an apology and a greeting before entering the bathroom himself. Annie walked downstairs and waited for him on the couch.

He returned, dressed and ready.

"Alright," he muttered, "Keys, wallet, phone—that's everything. Okay, Annie, we should go now."

"Ah, ah, ah," slurred George, rubbing his eyes, still in his pyjamas. "Where are you two going?"

"Out."

"Out _where?_"

"To the shops, she needs some clothes."

"Hmm…" George just growled and went back upstairs.

Mitchell led her out and into his car. They drove for a bit in silence until Annie broke it. "Mitchell?" she asked, and he just hummed. "Why did you lie to George?"

"Sometimes," he said, "It's better to keep stuff a secret. He doesn't like me seeing Herrick, and this is the last time I'll have to. It's not hurting him."

Annie nodded and slumped back on the seat.

Mitchell stopped the car outside of the funeral parlour, and he stopped her before she could get out of the car.

"Just for future reference," he said, handing her a pair of glasses. "Vampires are sensitive to the sunlight, we don't melt to the ground, but it's just a little blinding to us. Has the sunlight been hurting you?"—she shook her head, no—"Well, it will soon. So take these, they'll help."

They were greeted inside by a man who Mitchell called 'Seth'. He was at the front desk, writing something down.

"Ah, Mitchell," Seth said when Mitchell said his name. Seth gave Annie a sly smile, making her feel uncomfortable, so she shuffled closer into Mitchell. "Is this the new recruit? My, my, she's a good one."

Mitchell grimaced, "Don't be creepy, Seth."

"What?" Seth shook his head nonchalantly, "I'm only being friendly." He got up and walked around the desk, extending his hand out to her in a swift movement. "I'm Seth," he said as she shook his hand, "Pleasure to meet you, uh, Annie, was it?" Annie nodded.

"Where's Herrick?" Mitchell said, skipping the pleasantries.

Seth was back at his desk, shuffling pieces of paper around. With his head still down, he pointed to the back door. "Back room—he's expecting you."

Mitchell got Annie out of there as quickly as he could, well, before Seth could do anything else that would've creeped her out even more.

As promised, Herrick was waiting. It was a dark room, filled with some cars. His desk was at the very end, and he was dimly lit, but she could see that he was wearing a well-tailored suit. Herrick sighed and looked up, greeting them both with a smile. Two men put two chairs down in front of his desk and Herrick gestured his hand towards them, offering the seats. Mitchell and Annie sat down and eyed each-other reluctantly.

"Annie," Herrick finally said, crossing his arms as he leaned back. "I'm sure Mitchell's filled you in on why you're here?"

"Yes."

"Excellent," he said, eyes glistening, almost hopeful. "Who do you choose?" _Way to skip the pleasantries._

Annie sat there silently for a while. It was so hard for her to decide, Mitchell dragged her into this, and yet, he was sincere about working together, helping each-other, but another part of her wanted to give in and feed, and she knew Herrick would let her do that.

Mitchell was a killer, just the same as Herrick and everyone else in his vamp-clan. She didn't even know why she even considered choosing Mitchell in the first place; he ruined her life, took everything from her and yet she wanted to side with him? Something about him pulled her to him, like magnets.

_No. _She has to do the sensible thing, and that was leaving Mitchell. She knew his type; hot and dangerous, you want the thrill, and only he can give it to you. Annie didn't want that, nor did she need that.

"I choose…" she trailed off, looking at Mitchell, then Herrick. She gulped, the word struggling to come out. "Herrick."

Mitchell slumped back in his seat, astonished, but Herrick only chuckled, grinning wolfishly.

"I thought you were going to stay with me!" Mitchell half-yelled, voice cracking. Annie dropped her gaze to the floor, and then it trailed up to Herrick.

Herrick looked amused as he said, "Well, that settles that." Herrick stood up and walked over to Annie. He shook her hand and then lifted it to his lips to kiss it gently. Annie eyed him, but then Herrick moved over to Mitchell, patting his back almost unsympathetically.

"It's okay," he cooed, "She'll be okay here—we're a family here. You're more than welcome to visit her whenever you wish."

Mitchell said nothing, but his face said it all. He was pissed at her, and his eyes showed a faint sorrow, that of which made her heart sink to her stomach. She hugged herself, frowning. _I'm so sorry._

"She's made her choice," he said coldly. He eyed her for a moment, his eyes lingering on her, but then they moved up to Herrick. "And I have to respect that."

And with that, Mitchell left. Utterly heartbroken, it seemed.

**A/N: Please leave a review if you liked it! It really helps!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Like A Bad Foreign Movie

Mitchell's POV.

Mitchell returned to his car, blowing on his hands for heat. He shuddered and ducked into the car, starting it. He sat there for a moment to process everything, he told himself he would be calm, but before he knew it, he was punching the steering wheel over and over again, crying out in anguish.

He didn't know why he cared so much about it; it was just some girl he turned, she isn't his problem anymore, he figured now he and George can start new again without her—she was a distraction. _But she isn't just some girl. She's the closest thing I have to having Bianca back, and now she's gone. The last piece of my humanity slipped away. _He felt terrible for comparing Annie to Bianca, but he couldn't help it, everything about Annie reminded him of her; her smile, her laugh, the way she walked—_everything. _He wondered if they were related somehow. Mitchell drove away from the parlour. He needed a coffee and some time alone so he figured he'll go to the café around the corner, it's not usually too busy at lunch time so it was the perfect place.

The door sang when he entered and the girl working at the counter smiled at him kindly. He ordered a coffee and a ham sandwich, then, he took a seat at one of the booths. Picking up the day's paper, he began reading closely. There wasn't anything of note in the paper, the usual stuff; some politician is trying to bring some new bill or tax in, some school is trying to help the community—all the usual stuff—but a little snippet caught his eye, and to his surprise, it was an update on Annie.

It said that the police had cancelled the investigation due to lack of evidence and that her fiancée had decided to cut it off. _God, they're fast, _he chuckled to himself, but he wondered why Owen would stop the investigation, it had only been a few days. _Is that all it takes for him to finish grieving? _Mitchell harrumphed and figured she would've been better off without him. Finally, his food and drink arrived and he ate it eagerly as he continued to flick through the paper—not reading it, per say, but more scanning through it to pass time. He finished his toast and pushed the plate away, rubbing his stomach. He stopped and began playing with his cup. He took one last sip and left the café, the bell sang again, and it rang his ears annoyingly. _Briiing, Briiiing! _

It was time to go home, he decided, now he can relax without thinking about someone else, he can just focus on himself—something he hadn't done in a while. But who was he kidding? He needed someone to help or else he'll go back to his problems, and he didn't want to deal with them right now. If only he could just lock them away in a box and shove them in the back of his closet, never to be found again. But it wasn't that easy—it'll never be that easy.

Driving home was a nightmare too. It seemed that every radio station wanted to piss him off by playing songs that made him think of Annie. _I didn't even know her long, why the hell is this happening? _Finally, he pulled up to the little house. He saw George on the couch, now dressed in a blue shirt and jeans. He pushed his glasses up and crossed his arm like a protective father.

"And where have you been?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Mitchell put his keys and wallet away and turned to George who was tapping his foot impatiently. "I was out with Annie."

"Right," he nodded, un-crossing his arms. "So where is our little baby vampire?" he asked, teasing.

"She's gone now," Mitchell said, gulping, trying his absolute best to not sound sad about it. "She isn't going to bother us anymore. It'll be you and me again—like old times." Mitchell managed a smile before he marched upstairs, not allowing George anytime to recover and respond. He figured her choosing Herrick was the right thing, and he understood why she didn't choose him. He took everything from her and hell, if he was her, he would've done the same thing, but she doesn't know about Herrick, about what he says; what he does to you, how he manipulates you and _ruins _you. He wanted to drive back and warn her, but it would've been useless. She was now, and forever, gone. _Just like Bianca, then._

Some sad music was playing in the background as he lay on his bed, a cigarette between his fingers—it looked like he was in some bad foreign movie. His entire room now reeked of nicotine, and he knew that George would complain about it spreading to the other places of the house. But before he could put it out and spray something nice in there, George opened the door, his hand was on the knob as he said, "So, what's this about Annie?"

Mitchell sighed. "I'm a little busy right now," he said, waving his still lit cigarette. George's nose winkled.

"Oh, come on," George snorted, "You've been in here for twenty minutes. Stop being so depressing, Mitchell."

"Can I not have a smoke in peace, please?"

George rolled his eyes and walked over. He grabbed the cig and extinguished it in the dish on Mitchell's side table. George smiled and sat on the edge of his mate's bed. He patted his lap and asked him again. Mitchell made a blubbering sound with his mouth as he pulled himself up-right, his back leaning on his head-board. He explained everything that happened at the parlour and when he finished, George drew in a quick breath, jaw clenched slightly, moving his head to the side.

"That sucks, mate," George patted Mitchell's bare arm awkwardly, as if he didn't know what the protocol for this kind of thing was. Mitchell could only make a clicking sound with his tongue, shrugging as if he didn't care. "What are you gonna do, then?"

"I can't do anything, George, that's the thing," he explained, exasperated. "I can't go and get her back because she made her decision. We asked her what she wanted and she chose. I can't storm back there and get her back against her will." George didn't say anything, so Mitchell continued, close to tearing up, but he had to stop himself. He averted his gaze. "I dragged her into this, and she hates me for it."

George frowned, his hand hovering over Mitchell's shoulder for a few seconds before putting it back down. George shifted, moving in closer. "She doesn't hate you, Mitchell," he said, trying his hardest to comfort him.

Mitchell eyed his friend. "She'll be stupid not to."

George didn't quite know what to say next. "Well, whatever the case is, I'm sure she'll come around one day. I saw the way she looked at you sometimes."

"What'd you mean?"

"Oh, come on," George groaned, "Don't tell me you didn't see it?" Mitchell slowly shook his head, no, making George groan again in frustration. "And you tell me you're better at reading women than I am." He muttered, getting off the bed and moving towards the door. He stopped just before leaving. "Look, she doesn't hate you, trust me, I can tell. And if you want her back so bad, and you want to 'save her' or whatever, then stop moping around and get her back. Now, I have to go to work, I expect you to be productive today."—George shouted out something as the door closed—"No more sulking mister!"

Mitchell knew it would've been a bad idea to get her back; it would be Mitchell against a whole building full of vampires—it would be a bloody suicide mission. And if Annie didn't want to be rescued in the first place, then she wouldn't have chosen Herrick over Mitchell. If this is what she wants then so be it.

Annie's POV.

Annie felt colder without Mitchell there with her, almost un-safe. She was beginning to regret her decision, she thought it was a total mistake, but she couldn't turn back now. Mitchell was gone and she was condemned to a life of killing people and feeding from them like some animal.

Herrick had explained everything to her, he answered all her questions and even the silly ones like 'do vampires sparkle in direct sunlight?' and 'will my hair grow or do I need to go to a vampire friendly salon?' Herrick didn't seem to mind the questions; he found them quite amusing as he laughed at each one and waved it off as a 'silly misconception brought upon us by pop-culture'. Herrick didn't seem _too _bad, not as bad as the impression she got from Mitchell, but maybe Herrick did that type of thing; lure them in, make them feel welcome and then _boom, _you're a puppet to be pulled and dragged at his will. Annie tried her absolute best to smile whenever Herrick said something. Maybe it'll be less of a pain if she played nice.

Herrick asked her about her clothes, and if she had gotten anything new, and she told him no, she didn't. He chuckled at that, saying something along the lines of 'typical Mitchell, doesn't even take care of his guests.' But he gave her some money and let her off to buy some clothes.

"What if I run off?" she asked as she wrinkled the money.

"I trust you won't," he smiled thinly, "Besides, I doubt Mitchell would accept you back now with open arms after…" he waved his hand around, "…well, after what happened here. I don't usually do this, but I'll do anything for a friend of Mitchell's." She wanted that last bit to be sincere, but she could feel the sarcasm oozing from him.

Annie did what she was told and left to find the nearest clothing store. She bought a few things: bras, underwear, tops, jeans—the essential stuff she needed to get her started. She had an eternity to buy new things so she limited it to a few items. Annie received an odd glance as she was paying for her new items.

"Have I seen you somewhere?" the younger cashier asked, her voice squeaking.

Annie panicked a little but she just smiled and shook her head, no, taking the bag and hurrying out of the shop. _That was close. _

It was raining outside so she hurried next door to buy herself an umbrella. Annie began walking back to the vampire headquarters in the rain, her head down as she pushed through the bellowing wind. Annie kept muttering curses as the umbrella bent and pulled. Eventually she stopped to fix the umbrella, the wind was beginning to die down, and the rain was softening a little. Annie smiled in triumph as the umbrella went to its proper position, but her smile vanished when she looked up. There, standing under an umbrella was no other than her fiancée—well, _ex_-fiancée, really. He was under with someone else, a short girl with tanned skin. It was a little tricky to look at them thanks to the grey fog that hovered through the streets, but she saw them well enough. Owen bent down to her level and kissed her on the lips, so gently.

Her entire world stopped, everything was crashing around her. A horrible pain shot up through her, a sinking, empty feeling. It was like she was dying all over again. She wanted to cry, she wanted to puke, she wanted to scream and rip them apart. _I've been missing for less than a week and you've already moved on? _Annie's throat went dry, her chest tightened and an un-nerving feeling crept up on her—an all too familiar feeling. She was going to have a panic attack right then and there. She knew she had to leave, but where? The vamp HQ was too far away, and if she went to an alley then someone might see her, and she didn't fancy having a panic attack in public. Before she knew it, her feet were carrying her, as if something was controlling her. Annie didn't have the strength to fight it and before she knew it, she was knocking on a green door.

A man opened the door, cookie in his mouth, curls bouncing. His eyes went wide and the cookie fell out of his mouth.

"Annie?" Mitchell said, astounded.

**A/N: I hoped you liked the new chapter! Please leave a review if you liked it! It really does help! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 5 - For The First Time

Mitchell.

He had brought her inside after he poked his head out the door—for no apparent reason, it seemed. Annie was sitting on the black couch, curls messed up from the rain—which has now, thankfully, stopped—her eyes were dull and low, and a little red. Every-time he would try to look in her eyes, she would immediately look away shamefully. Mitchell, who was sitting opposite to her on another seat, studied her for a moment, occasionally tapping his food to a steady rhythm. His chin rested on his palms and his fingers tapped his nose as he thought.

Annie sniffled and wiped her nose as she looked away once again. Her leg brushed her bags, making a loud crinkling sound. Finally, he spoke and asked her why she was there. Mitchell remained calm when he asked her, trying to mask his residual disappointment from earlier.

"I'm not supposed to be here," she said, voice cracking as she nonchalantly gave him a broken smile, shrug and chuckle. "I don't even know why I came here in the first place, but I needed to hide out for a bit."

Mitchell leaned in closer and said, "Why do you need to hide?" He quickly began to get ideas about Herrick. _Has he done anything to her? If he has, I'll stake him myself._

Annie waved her hands around, like it was obvious. "I didn't really want to have a panic attack in public, now did I?" Annie wiped a small tear from her streaked skin. Mitchell saw that some of the colour had left her, like she's been drained of life somehow. "And I couldn't go back to Herrick in time. This was the only place I could go to." _So I was your plan B?_

Mitchell had calmly asked her what happened to her, and she explained it in great detail. She explained so much that he could've sworn that he was there, seeing what she saw, feeling what she felt, and hearing what she heard. Annie kept taking breaks to breathe, vaguely chuckling—in what he thought was, embarrassment— as she did so. Mitchell couldn't believe what she was telling him, he wanted to knock on Owen's door and punch the living shit out of him for what he did. _You fucking prick. _

It caught Mitchell by surprise when she finally began to cry—not ordinary crying, not like the crying you do in the wee hours of the morning in your dark bedroom, or loud and ugly crying, but rather, it was something else entirely. It was a pain-induced crying; loud and silent, bitter and sweet. It seemed like a cathartic release of emotions. Mitchell just stayed in his seat, watching the girl as she began to break and crumble right in front of him. He believed that the very worst part of it all was that he could do absolutely nothing about it—not a single bloody thing. He couldn't just walk over to her and pat her back, telling her lies about how she'll be okay because he knew that she wouldn't. How could someone come back from the things she's experienced in a matter of days? Mitchell knew he certainly hasn't recovered fully from anything he's experienced before. So he just sat there and watched as she eventually contained herself, sitting up straighter.

Her brown eyes met his green ones. Her eyes were glassy and red; her face was stained and snotty. Annie tilted her head to the side, her brows rose in question, silently asking him 'aren't you going to say something?' And so he thought of what to say. What should he tell her? That he's sorry for her loss? Truth be told, it was partly his fault. Should he tell her that Owen's an arsehole who doesn't deserve her? Maybe he could say that, it was true after all. Annie seemed like the type of girl who would know how to make everything better, who would stop time itself to make you smile again, even if it was for a moment. Why Owen would throw that away so quickly baffled Mitchell to no end. _His loss, anyway, _Mitchell figured.

"I'm so sorry," he said at last. And Annie let out a shaky breath. He didn't know if it was some sort of scoff or what, but he kept on talking. "He's a massive dick for doing that, and after only a few days. You're better off without him, Annie. There's someone out there who would love you just the way you are, who wouldn't go off and find someone else so quickly."

He could've sworn that anger flashed through her. "Who the _hell _would love me like…" she waved a hand towards herself, "…_this!_ I'm a vampire! Why would anyone risk dying just to have me?" Mitchell was silent, and then she chuckled again, leaning back into the couch, arms crossed. "Thought so," she nodded, chewing her lip.

Mitchell sighed and got out of his seat, moving towards the black couch. Annie scooted over, putting her feet up on the messy coffee table. She looked at him, her head leaning on the couch. Annie sniffled before wiping her face clean of anything embarrassing like snot and tears. He copied the way she was; leaning back with his cheek resting against the leather. They both stared at each other for a while and to his amazement, it wasn't awkward. After a few moments of silent eye wandering, he grabbed her hand. His finger rubbed against the skin, she was cold, he observed. He began tracing things on her hand, eyes fixed on what he was doing. He said, "I've known people who've loved humans, and hell, I did too for a while—sometimes it can work. And if that fails, then you can always find yourself a vampire worthy of your time, love and effort. You can't just give up love because of your…condition. Anyone would be lucky to have you, really." His green eyes lifted to hers, gleaming with hope, he smiled softly to her, some of his teeth peeping through. Annie smiled for a split-second before turning away, turning her lips inward into a tight line. He thought he made a mistake, telling her all that nonsense, but part of him liked how it felt to tell her that, like a pulsing feeling inside of him that wasn't lust, but genuine happiness—a feeling that he hadn't truly felt in a while. Annie gently pulled her hand away from his. The moment was perhaps a little too tender for her as she was unable to make eye-contact again. Annie breathed in again, this time she turned towards him, smiling ever so gently.

"I better go," she said, her eyes darting from his eyes to the door. He continued to look at her, almost in a trance. He snapped out of it and frowned, dropping his eyes.

"Can't you stay?"

"No, Herrick will kill me if he finds out I was here."

That was when Mitchell's nostrils flared, anger rushing through his body, boiling hot. His fists tensed so much that his knuckles began turning white, the skin around it going a pinkish-red. His imagination now doing overtime, he asked her if he's done anything to her.

"No!" she shook her head, her face twisting. "I meant it as an expression. Jesus, Mitchell, relax."

No, he couldn't relax. How could he relax when his friend has chosen the wrong person? How could he relax when he _knew _that she was walking into danger—he feared Herrick would do the same thing he did to Lauren a few months back. He couldn't go through that again; he didn't want to see Annie becoming a pawn. No, no, he _couldn't _bare the thought of him manipulating her like that.

"Annie," he said, grabbing her arm as she began to collect her bags. She stopped, looking confused as her eyes flickered from his hand to him, over and over again.

"Owen, please," she muttered, almost like a reflex. Mitchell furrowed his eyebrows. "I-uh, Mitchell. Let go of my arm, please." Mitchell let go, and watched her silently as she packed off and headed for the door. Before she left, he stopped her by the door.

"Why did you call me Owen?" he asked, his hand stopping her from leaving.

"I didn't call you Owen," she mumbled, her head dipping slightly in shame.

"Don't lie to me, Annie," he was serious, "Why would you call me Owen?"

Annie rolled her eyes as she adjusted her hands, shifting the bags. "Force of habit, I guess? I've known Owen for a long time." Annie tried to laugh it off and move towards the door but yet again, he stopped her. Her eyes dropped, and he moved his head around to catch her eye, but she kept moving around, making it impossible.

"_Liar_," he whispered.

Annie's head shot up, hollowing out her cheeks and biting them as she said, "_Get out of my fucking way_." Annie sounded disgusted and angry with him. Finally, his arm lowered and she scurried out of the house—surely never returning again after that.

Annie.

Herrick was at his desk when she returned. His eyes flicked up to her, his cold eyes staring her down. He waved his hand to the chair and she sat down, putting her bags down by her legs. It was silent, she was shifting around in her seat while his head was down, looking at some papers. Eventually, he raised his head and spoke.

"Did you have fun shopping?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, but he saw right through her.

"Did you have fun visiting your little friend?" _Shit. Play dumb – act cool._

She raised her eyebrows, shrugging with a questioning smile. "What friend would that be?"

"Oh," Herrick chuckled, turning left and right with his chair. "A new friend of yours; tall, brown curly hair, idiotic tendances, can't keep it in his pants without tearing someone apart? Does that ring any bells?" Herrick stopped moving around and rubbed his middle finger, giving her a wry smile. _He's got me. But how the hell does he know? Keep lying, maybe he'll drop it._

"Doesn't ring a bell," she said, shrugging. _Shit, shit, shit._

"Don't lie to me, sweetheart," he said, leaning in closer, elbows on the table. "I know you paid a little visit to Mitchell." Annie opened her mouth to talk, but was quickly silenced by his dismissive hand. "I've got eyes and ears all over the town – I'm always watching, Annie. Learn that and maybe you'll fit in and survive this."

Her stomach seemed to sink, and she suddenly felt sick, realizing she's made a grave mistake. _I should've stayed with Mitchell. Why do I always pick the wrong people to trust? _But then something in her mind snarled something like, _and what? Is Mitchell any better to trust? _Annie yawned, her eyes drooping slightly. Being a vampire was hard work, she was _so _tired—maybe it was mental-tiredness. And not to mention how she could feel the hunger coming back, creeping up like a brewing storm. It was a wonder that she hadn't gone out to kill anyone yet. Annie pushed the thought of feeding from her mind, but it came back when Herrick mentioned her hunger.

"You're shaking," he observed and she looked down, seeing that she _was _shaking. It took her by surprise, and she couldn't really figure why it was happening. "You're thirsty, aren't you?" he asked and she gulped, heat rushing to her head, burning her, agonizing. "You need to feed now," he breathed out, and then he swiftly clicked his fingers in the air. Two men rushed in, they looked tidy in their suits— Annie figured they were security.

"Give her something to drink," Herrick said, never looking away from her.

"Bagged or fresh, sir?" the one on the left asked, his voice thick.

Herrick observed her for a second before making a click sound with his tongue. "Fresh," he decided. "She's probably only had bagged blood, the poor thing, no wonder she looks so terrible."

Before Annie could respond, she was lifted from her seat by two strong hands. The man who spoke before held her and walked her towards the door, his hand on her back while the other was ordered to take her bags somewhere safe.

Annie was shaking; her legs felt weak at the thought of feeding off someone, of sinking into someone's skin to slurp out their life. Part of her loathed the thought while the other grabbed onto it and ravished it, refusing to let go. It was clawing inside her, but she kept fighting it—she wasn't going to give up that easily. _I will not let this win._

"Where am I going?" she croaked out.

The man grunted, but responded. "I'm taking you to a room where you can feed—_properly_."

"Are you a vampire too?"

"Yes, of course I am." He replied, shaking his head as if she was an idiot.

He stopped before a big metal door. He grabbed the latch and pushed it down. The door creaked open and inside she saw people cowering around, bandages on their necks and arms. There were men, women, and even children there, all shaking and sobbing in terror. Annie knew she should've bolted, but where would she go? The place was swarmed with guards so she had no choice but to stay at the door way, frozen.

The man grunted and grabbed a boy of perhaps twenty, dragging him out of the room. A woman shrieked and cried out, but the guard didn't care for he shut and locked the door behind them. The lad was shaking; he was skinny, his face hollow as if he hadn't eaten anything in days. The boy was wearing a torn black shirt and a tattered, washed out pair of jeans. He had bruises covering his arms and face, too. _No, no, please, no, don't make me do this._

The guard got Annie with one hand while holding onto the other boy with the other. He didn't seem to fight it, which surprised her, no doubt he's experienced this before, and that he knows that there's no sense in fighting it. He just has to accept his fate, as she has to accept hers. He led them to another room saying that she has to do what she needs to do, and that he'll be outside if she needs anything. He quickly turned and closed the big door behind him. The boy was looking down, shaking slightly. He drew in a deep breath as she stepped closer.

"If you're going to do it, then do it quickly," he said, his voice impatient.

"I don't want to do this."

"Sure you don't."

"No," she said, touching his arm tenderly. "I really don't."

His eyes flicked up, caught off guard. His blue eyes had a glint of hope, but it vanished as quickly as it came. He pulled away, moving his neck towards her. "Just. Do it." She couldn't do anything else, so she obliged. She came closer to him, slowly pushing him into the brick wall. He was now leaning on the cold wall, and she came close to his neck. Something clicked inside her, and she went animalistic. Her hands trailed to his arms, gliding her fingers up and down. She found herself planting a gentle kiss on his shoulder before her vision went weird, her eyes flashed black. _Boom, boom, boom, boom, _was all she could hear. His blood kept pumping and the tension was killing her so she ended it by sinking her teeth into his flesh. It slid in so easily, she could feel the skin breaking before she began sucking, the blood rising to her lips so eagerly. It was so fresh, so warm, and it oozed with life. The tiredness she felt before was now gone, and her hunger was now sufficiently satisfied. But _she_ wasn't. Annie kept sucking; she pulled, she held her breath and took more, and more in. The boy was grunting, on the verge of crying out but eventually, he stopped, all struggle left and then the taste got bitter. Annie pulled her fangs out and stepped back, rubbing the back of her hand over her mouth. She licked the left over blood from her fingers and that's when she realized…the boy was on the ground, no sign of breathing—limp and life-less.

_I've killed him._

And that's when Annie began throwing up her dinner.

**A/N: I hoped you liked it! As always, please leave a review if you liked it! It really helps! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6 - Horny Ass Vampires

Annie.

Her guard had returned, finding her curled in a little ball, weeping softly into her arms, right next to a puddle of her own puke—bits of it got caught in her hair. _It's going to dry up in there and stick. Ugh. _Annie needed a shower—pronto.

The man wasn't harsh with her as she had expected with the vampires, he was gentle in both his tone and grasp. Annie sniffled as he put her arm around his shoulder, escorting her to another room. The room was fitted with a bed, a dresser and a walk in bathroom. The walls, however, were verging on creepy, closely resembling something you'll see in a horror movie. She limped to the bed as her guard gently sat her down.

"I think it'll be best if you had a shower, little lady." He said, his friendliness made her feel weird, she didn't expect that from him considering his hard and stern appearance.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Do you need any help?" he asked, lifting himself up, straightening his suit.

Annie rubbed her left shoulder. God, it was killing her. "I should be fine, thanks." The man was about to leave when she stopped him, asking for his name.

"It's David." He said before leaving.

The bathroom looked like the one at Mitchell and George's house; small and charming, and the thought of them churned her stomach, almost threatening to betray her again. _Why did I leave him for this? This isn't any better. God damn it. _All thoughts aside, she undressed and hopped in the shower. She stood there for a while, her body up and straight, her head up high as she let the droplets of water fall to her skin, cleaning her of everything that's happened in the last few days, washing away the bitterness. She knew all too well that it wouldn't really help her forget everything; it wouldn't make her new, fresh, she'll keep being Annie—little, boring, ordinary Annie.

Maybe her new found vampirism will change that.

_Maybe…_

Annie found a note on her dresser which read: '_I put everything you bought away in your dresser – I hope you don't mind. David._' Annie smiled and opened her dresser up and found her clothes neatly stashed away in there. It was organized into groups like: underwear, shirts, jeans, sleepwear and coats. Annie was astonished at how quickly he managed to pack and sort everything while she was in the shower, but then again, she had lost track of time in there. Annie got dressed into some PJ's and yawned. _Time for bed. _Crawling into her new and, oh so, warm bed, she slept, her mind doing overtime.

Annie groaned when she woke to the sound of construction. She didn't sleep very well last night, thrashing and turning in her sleep wasn't helping her get the sleep she so needed. Her dreams were of Mitchell, and she cursed herself for letting herself dream about him—he's a monster, not to be trusted. He took everything from her and yet she couldn't help but see his face whenever she closed her eyes. Annie groggily walked to the bathroom like a zombie, rubbing her eyes as she did so. Annie instinctively looked into the mirror but found nothing. It frightened her for a second—terrified her, actually. She touched her face, but still, she didn't see anything but what was right behind her. _How can vampires live like that?_

Annie quickly got dressed into a white shirt and some black jeans. _I still need to fix my hair. _All she could do really was to tie it up in a ponytail and pray for the best. A stray curl fell onto her forehead and she blew it off her head, exasperated and annoyed.

The sounds of construction grew louder when she left her room. Annie decided to see Herrick in his office, surely there was something to do around here. It turned out that the sounds were coming from the room that Herrick was in. There were a few men by the sides of the room working and dodging the orange sparks which flew from their work. Annie didn't know how he could stand work being done here, it was driving her nuts.

He smiled when he spotted her and gestured his hand towards a seat like he usually did. Herrick got right to the point as he began talking about her relationship with Mitchell. She was hoping to have _one _day when his name _wasn't _mentioned, but it seemed she couldn't escape the man.

"Do you know _why _you were bit?" Herrick asked.

"I guess Mitchell was just thirsty?"

Herrick sucked in a sharp breath as he stood from his seat to move onto the table, leaning over closer to her. "Not exactly, no," he said, "Has Mitchell ever mentioned a girl called Bianca?"

"Yeah, once."

"Yes," Herrick nodded. "_She's _the reason why you were bitten. This girl looked remarkably like you and if Mitchell told you everything about her then you would've heard that he was crazy in love with this girl. He wanted to spend the rest of his days with her until he…well, you know the rest…"

"What are you saying?" she asked reluctantly even though she knew _exactly _what he meant.

"It seems he only bit you because of your striking resemblance to his ex-lover. My best guess is that he saw you and something flicked inside of him, something turned on and then he lost it—almost like you could be her replacement. He takes you under his wing, eventually gets you to fall for him and then he'll finally get his Bianca back—to some degree, of course."

_I was his second choice. _She thought bitterly, the realization and confirmation hitting her like a ton of bricks. _He never wanted me, he wanted his old sweetheart. It was never about helping each-other; it was all about him and his stupid feelings. Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?_

Herrick snapped her out of it by continuing on. "Therefore, Mitchell has some sort of bond with you, something that can be used to get him back. Tell me, Annie, do you want revenge?"

It took everything in her to not say no, but this was the last straw. _I don't want to be another person's second choice. I'm not going to take it any longer. I'm going to make him pay. _This new found anger and urge for vengeance was new to her, and weird, to say the least— Annie wasn't very hateful or vengeful, she would just stand there and take it; every blow, every hurtful word, every snarl—every little negative thing. But this time, she swore she wouldn't let that happen to her. Strangely, her vampirism upped her confidence enough for her to stand by her word.

"Yes," she breathed out, fists clenching and unclenching.

Herrick smiled in delight. "Good, I thought you would say yes—it would be silly if you said no. You see, I've got a plan to get Mitchell back. He's got some sort of connection with you, and we—_you_—can use that against him. Tell me, are you good at flirting?"

"N—"

"—Hm, I thought so." He cut in. Annie blushed.

"We'll figure that out in a bit, but for now, I need you to march back there and get him to our side. I don't care how you do it; flirt with him, kiss him, _shag _him—it doesn't matter. Just get him back here, no questions asked and you'll be paid generously."

"I'm not very good at flirting," she mumbled.

"Please, Annie, don't mumble—it drives me mad. Maybe drinking will help you flirt—blood seems to do that, especially with the baby vamps. Just go to room 9 and say that I sent you for some bags. And if he asks you for the password it's _lemon drops._"

"Why is there a password?"

"Greedy vampires, that's why." He chuckled. "Now, come on, the clock is ticking. I'd like him here by the end of the day or else…"

"…Or else _what_?"

Herrick raised an eyebrow, and that was enough for her to get the message.

Long and behold, there was a man in the room who eyed her suspiciously. Annie quickly composed herself and told him that Herrick sent her. He raised his eyebrow, staring at her over his daily paper. "Oh," she whispered. "Um, _lemon drops_?" The man grunted in approval as he stood up from his seat, waving his hand as a _follow me. _

He led her to a fridge which had multiple bags of blood. Annie scanned through the labelled bags. "Which one do you want?" he asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "What do you think is better?"

The man curled his lip in concentration, tapping his foot. He grabbed a bag and gave it to her. "This usually works if you want a bigger effect—the blood is richer, and thus it'll make you…well…creepy and horny, just what Herrick wanted, right?"

"Yep!" she nodded, giving him a smile.

The man's stone expression shifted as his lip twitched into a smile. He handed her two more bags. "Three should do it nicely, I would say."

Annie thanked him, bags in hand, and headed for the door. Her hands were full, and he saw that, so he rushed to her and opened the door for him. "Thanks…uh, what's your name?"

"Alex," he said. Annie left and headed to her room to begin her mission.

Annie set the bags on the counter, staring at them for a moment, her hands gripping the sides of the basin, her grip getting tighter and tighter. _What are you doing_ _with yourself? What did you get yourself into? You're going to drain three bags of blood and for what? To make Mitchell pay? How is this going to help you? You're just another puppet, Annie, can't you see?_

Ignoring her better judgement, she clipped the top of the first bag with some scissors. Annie looked at it for a moment, her fingers shifting along the bag, watching as the almost black blood moved and squished between her fingers. She raised it to her lips and drank, praying that she wouldn't throw up again.

Thankfully, she didn't throw it up, but before she knew it, the bag was empty. _What the…? _Annie stared at the other bags; the horrible churning of her stomach had left her now, and was now replaced with sheer hunger. Annie quickly clipped the next one open and chugged it, this time slowing down to savour the taste of it—so rich, so _warm. _Her eyes turned black as she chugged the next bag. Annie looked to the side when she finished, wiping the blood off her lips with the back of her hand. In the tub next to her were the remains of her shameless feast. Some left-over blood trickled out of the bags, some of it even staining the porcelain. Annie reached down, her finger smearing the blood aside. She had an urge to lick it off her fingers as she shifted a blood clot between her fingers, but she opted not to as she quickly turned on the sink to wash it off.

_You're an animal. _

Annie cleaned herself off before swiftly leaving the premises. Outside, she found David waiting beside a fancy and classical looking car. "Off to enemy territory?" David grinned, his arms crossed as he leaned on the door.

"Aye, aye, captain."

He opened the door for her and then scurried over to the other side to start the car, heading over to Mitchell's. Annie prayed that George wasn't there—he would mess the entire plan up, and Annie didn't want to fail. Failure wasn't an option.

David stopped outside of the little pink house, looking at Annie with worried eyes.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Knowing Mitchell it probably won't take long, if you catch my drift."

Annie laughed, snorting the process. To remove herself from further embarrassment, she left the car and walked towards the door.

Annie knocked, and Mitchell quickly answered. He looked so happy and relieved to see her. He began to ramble on, spewing apologies over and over again. Annie smiled and gave him a dismissive hand, never looking at him in his eyes.

"You look…nice," Mitchell said, awkwardly trying to make conversation.

Annie turned on her heel, now facing him. She smiled and stepped closer, thanking him sweetly. The vampire in her flicked on, the blood was now kicking in, and it was now furiously fighting the human side of her. It screamed at her to stop, it twisted and turned everything in her, but she managed to fight it off. _You gotta do what you gotta do._

"Do you like me?" she asked, realizing that human Annie was now out of the picture. No longer could she control her actions, but she was forced to just stay and watch as this…_inhuman…_thing took charge.

Mitchell chuckled awkwardly, running his finger across the top of his bottle. "Of course I do."

"I mean," she said, stepping even closer to him. "Do you _like_ me?"

Annie's fingers started to play with the button of his shirt and he laughed awkwardly. "You sound like you're twelve, Annie."

"This isn't a joke." She growled, turning him around to push him up against the wall. She was stronger now, and much faster. Mitchell hit his head on the wall, cursing. Annie zoomed towards him and smiled. "Answer my question…"

"Well, uh," he stammered, "If we're going to be honest I…"

"I thought so…" she grinned, pulling her face closer to his.

At this point, Mitchell seemed hypnotized; it would only be a matter of time before she had him around her finger, but sadly, he broke out of it and sniffed. His face scrunched up in disgust. "What the hell did you do?" He said, pushing her away.

"I did nothing," she said sweetly. _No, no, please, stop doing that to him, _human Annie pleaded.

"You've been feeding, haven't you?"

"No, don't be stupid—I've done what you wanted me to do: don't kill anyone, have bagged blood."

Mitchell sniffed her again. "No," he said, "I can smell fresh and old blood. Who the hell did you feed from?"

"I didn't feed from _anyone_!" she yelled, but then realized and composed herself, her voice softening. "I just wanted to see you, Mitchie."

"Do you think I was born yesterday, Annie?" He tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing, and his annoyance so clear on his face now. _I guess he isn't coming with me now. _ "Did Herrick make you feed? Did he send you here?"

"No," she said, stepping closer to run a finger down his shirt. There was no point in stopping, eventually he'll come through—she just _knew _it. It had to work, she didn't want to come back to Herrick with nothing for him, the consequences would be too severe, so she kept at it, ignoring his growls that came from him when he would tell her to stop.

Eventually, he got enough energy to push her hand away. Annie flinched back out of instinct. _No, old habits. Maybe he won't ask._

They were just standing there in silence for a while, staring at each-other, the only thing that filled the air was Annie's heavy breathing as she was trying to catch her breath back. It was obvious now, she isn't going to seduce Mitchell.

His face softened a little as he pushed himself off the wall towards her. His hands rested on her shoulders and she looked away, shutting her eyes tight so she wouldn't cry. _I can't do anything right._

"He sent you here didn't he?"

Annie nodded.

"He wants me back, doesn't he?"

She nodded again, curling her lower lip in and pressing down on it with her teeth. It bled a little, but she didn't care, it just made her bite even harder. _Don't cry, don't cry._

"Please, reconsider your choice," he said softly. "There's no shame in saying you've made a mistake – it's obvious he's threatening you, and the longer you stay with him, the worse it gets. It starts with threats, and then he carries them out, inflicting physical and mental damage. I don't want you exposed to that – not while I'm still here."

"I know the feeling," she murmured. Mitchell asked her what she said, but she waved him off saying nothing. He didn't press on, thankfully, but he just eyed her. _He can see right through me but he doesn't say anything – he can't say anything. _

"I can't just _go,_ Mitchell. It isn't as simple as that, you should know that."

"I _did _leave. I know how it feels, but please, listen to me, get out while you can. I can help you—we can help each-other."

"I'm not your ex, Mitchell," she snapped. "Stop telling me to stay. I know that's the only reason why you bit me."

Mitchell flinched. "What'd you mean?"

"_Don't,_" she said, her voice stern, "play dumb, Mitchell. You even said it yourself—I look like your ex-girlfriend, the one you lost a hundred odd years ago. You always wanted to be with her, but you couldn't—all of _this_ got in the way of your plans. And so the next best thing was _me_."

Mitchell sighed in defeat. "You're not the next best thing, Annie. You're not my second choice. I fed from you out of impulse—easy prey, maybe."

"_No,_" she said. "There were at least two dozen girls in there who would've been easier prey than me. Admit it, Mitchell. I'm Bianca 2.0."

"Did Herrick tell you all that?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"I had a feeling, but he confirmed it."

"_He's _trying to manipulate you, Annie, can't you see that?" he asked, stepping closer, cupping her cheeks with his hands, looking down at her with sad eyes. "_Let me help you. _We'll figure everything else out later—when this is all over, we can talk about it."

Annie sighed and moved his hand down. "I know he's trying to manipulate me—he's using me to get to you, and all because you have a 'connection' with me, or whatever. I know he's trouble, but so are you."

"But I'm not as bad as he is…"

"Yes, _you are. _You took everything away from me; I can't just forget about all that and run into your arms like we're in _Twilight_. I'd be stupid to stay with you."

"But you're not getting it," Mitchell almost whined. "I care about you, really I do, and Herrick doesn't. You're a pawn to him, a slave to his will. I know what I did to you, what I took from you, but I want to make it better." He cupped her cheeks again, saying softly, "Please let me fix this."

It took everything within her to not stay, but she had to leave, it was the best thing to do. She couldn't run off with her killer—that would be bonkers. Annie looked back to the house when she was walking outside, watching it for a moment, chewing her lip.

She entered the car, the radio playing silently in the background. David looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "Did you do it?"

"Convince him? No."

"Herrick isn't going to like that, little lady." Tapping the wheel, he looked away for a moment and then looked back at her. "Are you hungry? I mean, we have until the end of the day to tell him what happened. We could pop out to get a bite or something. Are you hungry, little lady?"

Annie's stomach turned as she hugged herself. "My appetite's gone now. But thanks for asking." She gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded.

"Was he really that bad?" David asked, filling the silence as they drove.

"What'd you mean?"

"Mitchell," he said, his eyes flickering from the road to her. "Was he so bad that you've lost your appetite?"

Annie chuckled. "We didn't do…anything. I guess I'm a little rusty when it comes to seducing vampires."

"Ah," he said, "It takes years to master, really."

"And you're an expert?"

"Hell yeah," he laughed. It was a nice laugh, like a fatherly laugh; it fills the space, bellowing, it's loud and infectious. _I miss my parents, _she thought, sighing. _I wonder how they're taking this. Mum would probably be worried sick. _

Annie was anxious to walk through the door alone. David had to go somewhere else, but he assured her she'll be okay. Annie didn't want to face everyone in there; she didn't want to face the looks of disappointment. _I should've just stayed with Mitchell. I wouldn't have to face all this._

Seth was at the front desk, talking to an old woman who was over in the waiting room. Seth greeted her when he saw her and Annie asked about the woman.

"She makes us look good, you know?" he said, shrugging.

The old woman smiled.

Annie could feel his eyes burning into her as she walked away, so she hurried her pace.

Annie told herself to calm down, that she was able to do this, that she could face anything. _You are a strong, independent baby vampire and you don't cringe for anyone. You can do this. Come on, breathe. In, out, in out. Yes, good, control your breathing. Oh God, people are looking at me now. Yep, yes, hello, nice to see you again. Please stop looking at me like that. Oh, there's Herrick. Woo, okay, Annie, you can do this._

"Annie," Herrick sang, smiling dryly. "How'd it go?"

Annie sucked in a sharp breath, and that was enough for him to get the gist. He stood up, shaking his head, making a _tsk_ sound as he approached her slowly.

"Annie, Annie, Annie," he shook his head. "I thought I could…_trust you_ with my little mission. It's quite simple really. All you had to do was play dirty for a bit. Isn't that hard, is it?" He was walking around her now, etching closer, his breath tickling her as he talked.

"It wasn't _that _easy, Herrick." She mumbled, playing with her fingers nimbly. He caught her, taking hold of her fingers and squeezing them.

"A little word of advice, my love: _Don't ever disappoint me. Always do what you're told and you'll survive."_

"Are you saying that you're going to kill me?"

He squeezed them harder, leaning in closer. "Not now, I won't." he said, smiling grimily. "I'll let you off for now. We'll have to try something else and promise me you fuck it up this time."

Annie didn't say anything, so he squeezed harder and harder until she cried out. "I promise! Just please, let go of my fingers."

He let go and smiled, returning to his desk gracefully. "Now, sit down. We have much to discuss."

**A/N: I hoped you guys liked it! And as always, please leave a review if you liked it! It really helps! :D**


	8. Chapter 7 - Playing The Part

Annie.

Annie found herself absently twisting her engagement ring as Herrick talked about the new plan. He thinks that if he records Annie shagging some guy, and then feeding off him then Herrick will finally have Mitchell back. "It has to work," he said. "It's like vampire porn. It's unlikely that he won't be affected by it and plus, it'll give him a little entertainment." Herrick smiled wryly, hinting to something that made Annie uncomfortable to just _think _about. Annie twisted the ring a final time, sighing as she looked down at it. She didn't know why she still had it with her, Owen moved on with his life, found someone else, so why can't she? Maybe she can find a nice vampire boy to settle down with.

_Mitchell. Mitchell. Mitchell. Mitchell._

Annie got up from her seat and walked away, hugging herself as she walked through the halls of the building. _"He's manipulating you, Annie. Can't you see that?" _She heard Mitchell's voice say again. He was right, she knew it, but she didn't _want _to know it, she didn't want to believe that it was happening to her again.

"You alright, babe?" asked a female voice from behind her. Annie spun around and found a young, slim girl standing in front of her, smiling sweetly. The girl flicked some stray hairs from her fringe away and waited for Annie's answer.

"Yeah," she murmured. "I'm alright, thanks."

"I'm Lauren," she said as she skipped to Annie's side, trotting along with her as they walked. "You must be Annie right? The new baby vampire?"

"I wish they'd stop calling me that," Annie muttered.

"Don't worry," Lauren said as she linked her arms into Annie's. "They'll stop calling you that eventually." Lauren smiled but pulled Annie another way, dragging her somewhere else. Before Annie could protest, Lauren quickly said, "I'm taking you to mine. You need to get ready for tonight."

Annie didn't protest, but rather, she just walked quietly, giving one word answers when Lauren would ask her something. She caught some people staring at them as they exited the building. Annie hated this kind of attention. _Take a picture, it'll last longer. Oh, wait…_

It took one bus and five minutes of extra walking to get to Lauren's house. It was a charming little flat that was fairly spacious, littered with cute, but, odd furniture. Lauren plonked her bag down by the door and dragged Annie up a little set of stairs and into the bedroom. Her room was cutely decorated with different coloured walls and she had pictures scattered all along one side of the wall, creating some sort of staircase pattern.

Annie plonked herself down on the bed, her fingers lightly tracing the flower pattern of her bed spread. Lauren was already at her closet, examining and zipping through the hangers as her eyes scanned at what she had. Annie sat in silence, her eyes darting around the room, looking at nothing in particular; it was only to keep her busy.

"Have you done this before?" Lauren asked.

That had snapped Annie out of it, shaking her head, blinking, she responded with a simple "No." Lauren gave a solemn nod, and then Annie continued. "I was engaged, actually. Before I became a vampire and it's, uh, been a while so I'm a little—well, actually, _really_—out of practice."

Lauren smiled and turned her attention back to her clothes. "Don't worry, babe. It's not hard to snag some guy at a club." Annie laughed at that, but then there was an awkward silence. Lauren turned back around slowly, licking her lips. "Does your fiancée know about what happened to you? Or have you dropped off the earth?"

"He doesn't know what I am now." Annie breathed out. "He's found someone else so I don't think he really cares."

Lauren frowned. "Oh," she said, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry to hear that. He's a jerk."

Annie didn't say anything, so Lauren turned back, grabbing one of the hangers and handing it to Annie, telling her to put it on.

Annie obeyed, moving to her bathroom to get changed. What sucked about the vampirism was that she couldn't see what she looked like, but her fears were put to rest when she walked out. Lauren was flicking through a magazine when Annie emerged. Her eyes flickered up to Annie and she whistled. "Damn," she muttered.

Annie twirled around to give her a full view. The dress was nice, but it wasn't something that Annie was used to. It was a black dress which hugged her body—it wasn't _too _tight, thankfully—and it had lace embellishments one the neckline and the sides of her torso. Lauren told her she looked great, and Annie had no choice but to take her word for it.

Then it was make-up time. Annie groaned as she sat down on a chair. Lauren moved behind her, playing with her hair. "Did you know you had dried stuff in your hair?" she commented, peeking over her shoulder to talk. _Shit. I didn't wash all the puke out. _

"No," she lied—well, sort of lied, anyway.

"Well, you do. But there isn't much in here so you don't need to have a long shower to get rid of it—I'll just pick it out." And she did just that. For what seemed like twenty minutes—but really, it couldn't have been more than five, or ten—she picked and sprayed at it, breathing out heavily when she finished. "Now," Lauren said, moving over to the front to grab her black paddle-hair brush. She began to brush out Annie's hair. It pulled a few times, causing Annie to breath in sharply. "Sorry if I'm hurting you, babe."

For the next hour or so, Annie was Lauren's little toy; she was brushed, powered and sprayed all over. Lauren gave Annie some black make-up and straightened her hair, telling Annie that this will surely catch someone's attention.

Annie then waited for Lauren to get ready and then they were off to hit the town. It was chilly outside, and Annie had wished she had a jacket to cover herself up. Annie spotted David's car beside the flat and she hurried over to him, tapping on the window glass. The window slid down and David's head turned to Annie.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"To take you to the club."

"Did Herrick send you?" Lauren interjected, leaning into his view.

"Yeah,"

"No one told me?"

"Change of plans," David shrugged. "Now, get in the car before you freeze to death."

It wasn't a long drive to the club. There was barely any traffic, which was both good and bad to Annie. On one hand, she wished the ride would've been longer so she wouldn't have to do what she had to do so soon, but on the other, she wanted it to be done with, the suspense was killing her. Her head rested on the window, watching the sky as it began to rain.

Lauren elbowed Annie and she shook her head, turning to her, snapping out of her trance. "Showtime," Lauren said, her door open, some drops of water were coming through the door, and so she had to hurry. They both trotted out of the car and David mentioned one last thing.

"Lauren," he said, "Text me when they're about to leave. I'll pull around back here and take them to the hotel; afterwards, I'll drive you home. Don't drink too much."

"Will do," Lauren said, shifting her legs in the cold. She turned to Annie, linking their arms together. "Ready?" she asked, and Annie nodded.

There was a huge line outside the door and Annie groaned, not wanting to stand outside in the rain. Lauren seemed to know what she was thinking as she just simply smiled, walking over to the guy at the door. He unhooked the red velvet robe, letting them in whilst everyone outside groaned and cursed.

The music was loud in there, louder than anything she's ever heard. Annie had been to clubs, but not like these. There were so many people—so many people, filled with fresh, warm blood. _Bom, buh-boom, buh-boom, boom, boom. _Annie began to shake a little, the sound frightening her—she could feel Vampire Annie slowly creeping in again. Lauren, seeing Annie's distress, quickly moved her over to the VIP bar, which was, thankfully, much quieter.

"Vamps get the nice areas…" Lauren whispered. It certainly seemed like vampires got the good end of the stick when it came to clubs and special treatment.

The VIP bar wasn't as noisy as the public dance-floor, and the pounding sound had subsided mostly. They took their seats at a booth, sighing at the same time.

"Want a drink?" Lauren asked, sliding out of her seat.

"Water will be great," Annie said, and Lauren stopped.

"Seriously," she came closer, making sure no one could hear what she was about to say. "It's _so _much easier when you've got a drink in you. It helps you relax, _trust me_."

Annie nodded and Lauren was off to the bar. Annie's fingers were absently tapping away at the table as she put her feet up on the other side of the booth. She stopped tapping for a moment and crossed her arms, leaning her head up and against the back of her chair, eyes closed, she sighed.

Lauren returned and Annie put her legs back down, taking a sip of her drink. "So," Annie said, putting the cup down. "What's the plan, exactly?"

"You catch a guy and bring him to a hotel. David will know which one to check you into, and then he'll leave you guys to it. The camera will be on, and all you have to do is shag him and bite into him."

"You make it sound so nonchalant."

"I've done it before," she shrugged, "Do it once and it isn't as horrible as you thought it was to begin with. It's weird, I know, but you have to do what you have to do in order to survive."

"I guess," Annie mumbled, taking another sip of her drink.

Lauren put her hand on Annie's. "Listen," she said, "I know how you're feeling right now. And trust me; it'll be over before you know it, okay? After this, you won't have to do it again."

"How do you know what it's like?"

"Because," Lauren sighed, taking her hand away. "I've done it too. You and I have a lot in common—more than you think. After this, I want to be someone you can trust. You don't have to hide anything from me. We girls have to stick together."

"Thanks, Lauren." Annie smiled, feeling better.

Lauren went to the bathroom and as if on cue, a man came into her vision and sat down in Lauren's seat. He had short brown hair; the front of his hair was pushed up. Annie could see that he had blue eyes. Annie thought he was good looking—and that maybe he would be the one she would kill tonight. Her stomach churned at the thought of it.

He talked to her, subtly flirting too, and she did so back, trying her hardest to act sexy. Annie saw Lauren in the corner of her eye, but then she vanished. _Please don't leave me alone. _They talked for a while, drinking and laughing as if they were friends. It would be a shame to rid the world of someone like him, but it had to be done. Annie thought it selfish, to risk one's life in order to save hers.

He offered to buy her some drinks but she only accepted the first two. He, on the other hand, had quite a few—three, maybe even four—and she could see him becoming more and more intoxicated with every sip. _It's time to head off, _she decided, leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Let's go to somewhere private." He smiled and got out of his seat. She told him that they were going to get picked up by her personal driver to go to a hotel. He didn't seem to care as he stumbled out of the club with her. Annie wasn't as drunk as he was, she was just tipsy, but she knew what she was doing, and where she was going. Annie turned her head around to Lauren and nodded, seeing that Lauren had her phone in her hand, obviously texting David.

Sure enough, when they stepped outside, the car zoomed in front. Lauren had hurried behind them, taking the seat in front. Her drunken friend stumbled into the car and Annie got in beside him. He muttered something about Lauren, but she shut him up with a quick kiss.

"Play the part," Lauren whispered, loud enough for Annie to hear, but not for her friend to hear. Taking a deep breath, she took her ring off, moving it between her fingers for a moment, the diamond shone in the light and Annie held it in the palm of her hand, putting it to her chest before putting it in the seat pocket in front of her. Annie kissed the man, harder this time. Annie didn't feel much but she kept going at it as he grabbed her neck, pulling her in closer. _Play the part._

They arrived at the hotel and David walked with them, checking in. The man was getting impatient as they were checking in. Finally, David handed her the key and the room number, wishing her luck. Annie nodded and headed for the elevator, holding the man as he stumbled around. He tried to kiss her again in the elevator, but she refused.

They had made it into the room and Annie could immediately see the camera. She doubted her friend would see it because a) he was drunk and b) he wasn't looking for it, so he probably wouldn't find it.

The rest was blur to her, all she could remember was a feeling in her stomach growing and growing until it spilled over. All of her self-control had left her and vampire Annie had taken over as she sank her teeth into his neck. The feeling was so much better now than it was compared to her first actual kill a couple of days ago. It felt so cathartic and electrifying. _I could get used to this, _she heard something say. It scared her, the fact that she was slowly giving into this.

Annie rolled over, seeing his corpse still beside her. Some of the blood had dried and was sticking to the sheets and his body. Groaning, she got out of the bed and walked over to the phone. There was a note beside the phone that had a phone number on it—she assumed it was Herrick's, so she punched the numbers in and waited for someone to pick up. Every now and again, she turned back, looking at the body on the bed. She didn't want to do it, but she didn't have a choice—it was kill, or be killed out there.

Finally, someone picked up and her grip tightened. The conversation ended quickly, and in a matter of minutes, the team arrived. Annie was told to wash the blood from her skin in the shower, and she eagerly obeyed. The water helped soothe her nerves a bit, but she just killed a man, a quick shower wasn't going to fix that. But the blood will be washed away, and the visible evidence of her crime would vanish. It was amazing to her that in a matter of days, she was a changed woman—and not in a good way. Annie had always wished she would do more, be more adventurous but she never wanted _this—_to be involved in a secret vampire syndicate. A couple of days ago she didn't even believe in ghosts or anything super or paranormal. But now it was her life. Annie gulped at the thought of it all; a scream of time that was slowly sucking her in deeper. _How do they cope with that? With seeing constant death? Always frozen. There's nothing more horrible than that. _

Annie watched as the blood slid down her skin and onto the porcelain tiles, swirling around in the water until it was washed down forever. Annie wrapped herself in a white and luxurious towel. She stepped outside, watching as the team scrubbed, cleaned and stripped every _inch _of evidence. It was beginning to look like it did before. She had to give it to them; they knew how to clean up.

Lauren was at the front door, a bag in hand. She yawned, handing Annie the clothes. She thanked Lauren and invited her in. "I'm sorry you had to stay up." Annie said as she walked back to the bathroom to get changed. Annie and Lauren began to talk through the door.

"Nah," Lauren said, "It's fine. Couldn't sleep anyway. Too much going on in my noggin'."

Annie emerged from the bathroom in a shirt and sweatpants—a nice change from what she was wearing before. Lauren told Annie that she had to go.

"Are you sure?" Annie asked, looking around the room. "Do they need any help?"

"No," Lauren turned Annie around, putting a hand on her back, leading her out. "The lads will be fine with that. They've done it countless times. Now, come on, you deserve a nice, long sleep for what you did today."

"Thanks." Annie muttered. Lauren led her to David's car and they began to drive back to Lauren's for the night.

Annie was exhausted—mentally, emotionally and even physically. Being a vampire was so hard for her; everyone wanted something from her, never getting a say in _anything_. Never did anyone ask what she wanted to do, or how she felt. _Mitchell gave you a choice, and you refused. You're in this because you didn't think it through—stupid, Annie. Never thinking anything through and complains about what happens after. You deserve this, you know that?_

_That _sucked too—the whole double personality thing: vampire Annie versus Human Annie in a battle of moral judgement. That must've been one of the reasons why she was so exhausted—having two sides of her battle it out as she stood there and watched, trying her hardest to not let anything negative through. She couldn't let it win—_not yet._

Annie's eyes flickered shut, letting sleep take her.

She woke on a new bed, head throbbing. Groaning, she tried to sit up but a voice warned her. "I'd be careful if I were you," Lauren said. She was in the door way, a cup of tea in her hands, the steam twirled and parted in the air. Annie slowly sat herself up, brushing a huge clump of hair away from her face. It was difficult to keep her eyes open, but she saw Lauren put the cup aside before she sat next to Annie on the bed.

"You can rest now," Lauren told her sweetly. "I talked to Herrick and he said you can have a little break for a few days. He says to thank you for what you did, and that you're a…" she paused, changing her voice so it mimicked Herrick's. "…_valuable member of our community…_" They both laughed, but then Annie groaned.

"Ugh, don't make me laugh—hurts when I laugh."

"Ah," Lauren nodded, leaving the spot beside the bed. "You rest. I'll be here all day if you need me. Give me a call and I'll come."

Lauren was about to leave when Annie stopped her. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Lauren paused, but then turned around. "We girls need to stick together. Like I said, you and I are alike—more than you think. I want you to have at least one friend in this world." She smiled, but there was a sadness about it, as if she wasn't telling her everything.

Lauren left, closing the door and Annie put her head on the headboard, sighing aloud. Wondering what was going to happen to her now. Was she to be discarded now that her job was done? Does she have to do something like that again? She kept asking questions, and she yearned for an answer—_anything _to ease her mind.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hoped you liked it! I'm sorry if this is slow! If you liked it, please leave a review. It really helps to see how I'm doing writing wise and if anyone's actually reading it. Next chapter up soon! **


	9. Chapter 8 - Pre-Porn Precautions

Mitchell.

His guilt was clinging onto him like a leech. He kept hearing Annie say "_I'm Bianca 2.0_" over, and over again in his mind. So much so that he wanted to rip his hair out. He knew that she was right, that he only fed from her because of the way she looked and the way she made him feel when they first saw each-other. He liked the electricity that shot through him, it was a feeling he hadn't truly felt in a long time. Something clicked inside of him, something beyond his control, and now he has to live with the consequences, his guilt, his _creation_.

Work seemed to ease some of his thoughts. He liked how work did that, he liked how normal he felt doing human things. It wasn't like he needed the money, no, he had a century worth of savings locked up, but working seemed to ease his stress, get him out of the house instead of wandering through the streets doing god knows what. Every now and again, Mitchell caught George looking at him, but then he would cover it up by looking away, pushing his glasses up as he dragged his bucket and mop somewhere else—his little way of seeing if his best mate was alright. It was a sweet little thing, Mitchell thought.

Mitchell got home a little earlier than George. Mitchell would've waited for George's shift to end, but George told him to go home and relax, that he was going to bring dinner home with Nina later. Mitchell was relieved. He needed some time to himself rather than sharing the house with two other people. He needed some time away to just think.

He should've been thinking about Annie, and how he would help her. It was clear to him, though, that he should just give it up, _she doesn't want to be saved, _but he couldn't bear the thought of something happening to her. But instead of thinking of her _safety, _he thought about the video he got. It should've disgusted him, it should've angered him to no end (which it did, but not as much as it should have.)

He popped the disc into the DVD player and watched. He was almost touching the screen with his face as he watched, and he just sat there, eyes fixed on what was going on. He could feel something stir in his stomach and he tried to push it away, but it was no use. His eyes flicked black but then the door creaked open and he snapped back into reality, scurrying to turn it off.

George, who was holding a pizza box in one hand, and a bag of groceries in the other, looked at Mitchell curiously as Nina turned around slowly, her eyes flickering from Mitchell to George, and then over again.

"What were you doing?" asked George.

"Watching the…telly?" he said, planning to make it sound like a firm statement rather than a question.

"_That _close?"

"The, uh, news is," Mitchell scratched the back of his neck, stretching, "_really _interesting, you know? You gotta look real close to understand the news and…stuff."

"He sounds like a teenage boy who was caught wanking by his mum," chuckled Nina as she moved to the kitchen. Mitchell laughed nervously, trying his best to hide it.

When George wasn't looking, Mitchell quickly slid the disc back into its sleeve, and then he put it in his boxers. He swaggered into the kitchen, trying to be as causal as possible, grinning, he asked, "What's for dinner?"

Nina looked him up and down as she put the food on the table. "Pizza," she said, opening up the box and taking a slice of cheese pizza. Mitchell's stomach rumbled, and he couldn't wait to dig in, but George had called for him, asking to talk upstairs.

"Okay," George said as he closed Mitchell's bedroom door, his back pressed up against the wall. "What was that about?"

Mitchell smiled and shook his head, curls bouncing. "I was watching the news, mate."

George eyed him before plonking down on the bed beside his friend. "I've seen you watching the news, Mitchell, and _that _wasn't your news face. No, no, my friend, I have seen that look one too many times. I _know _that look."

Mitchell sighed, knowing fully that he was caught watching vampire porn, and of _Annie. _"Okay, maybe I _wasn't _watching the news. But I was just watching the telly, nothing interesting to report. Now can I please go back down there for some pizza? I'm starved!"

Mitchell stood up to leave, but George pushed him back down again. Mitchell grunted, as if he was having a father-son chat.

George pointed to Mitchell's crotch, and Mitchell looked down to see that he had something square in his pants. "I don't know about you, Mitchell, but I don't know anybody who has a square crotch. What's in the pants?"

"A DVD."

"Of what?"

"_Things,_"

"Porn?"

"_No!" _Mitchell cried, covering George's mouth. George licked Mitchell's hand, so it squirmed away. Mitchell lowered his voice, burying his hands in his hair. "Okay, yes, it was porn—sort of."

"You know there's the internet for that, right?" George bit back a laugh as he poked fun at Mitchell and his lack of pre-porn watching precautions. "I mean, are there _still _porn DVD's out there?"

"It's not _that _kind," Mitchell muttered, but sadly it was loud enough for George to hear. _Stupid George and his good hearing. _

"Oh, my God," George said, dropping his mockery. "Is it vampire porn?" he whispered.

Mitchell nodded and George was lost for words. "I, ah, but, what—_why _would they send you _another _one? Oh, no, it's not of Annie, is it?"

"Yeah," Mitchell whispered, ashamed.

"And how many times have you _seen _this?"

"Once!" Mitchell cried, but then sighed when George gave him the _look. _"Okay," he said, throwing his hands in the air, "maybe twice."

"Jesus," George muttered. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, she doesn't want to be saved, but I can't leave her there like I did with Lauren—look at how _that _turned out! I don't want Annie going through that."

"If she doesn't want to be saved, then don't save her. She's in charge of her future now, and you can't force something on her."

"I just don't want her to get hurt by Herrick. I don't want him manipulating her like he did with me. I can see it happening now. It's already started. _How _can I turn my back on her?"

"It seems like you have some sort of bond with her." George unexpectedly said. Mitchell turned and cocked his head to the side. "Why did you bite her?" It wasn't much of a question, Mitchell knew. George just wanted an answer to further his argument.

But Mitchell wasn't going to tell him the truth so quickly.

"What'd you mean? I lost control."

"No," George shook his head. "That's not really it, isn't it? There's something more to it. When you bit Lauren, you didn't seem to care that much. Every now and again, you would offer your help, but then you would stop and turn away from her. What makes Annie so different from Lauren? From everyone else you've turned?"

He didn't know quite what to tell him. _I wanted my old girlfriend back? I wanted a reminder of my humanity? I needed someone familiar to love me? _No, that wouldn't work, and he knew that. But he couldn't keep secrets forever, especially when it's George.

But he _still _couldn't bring himself to admit it, to hear it come from his own mouth. He just sat in silence, head bowed down, playing with his ring. George pursed his lips and nodded, as if the silence was enough to answer his question.

"If saving her means so much to you, then you can march over there and take her in your arms—her knight in shining armour. But if she doesn't_ want _to be saved, whatever her reasons, then you should—_no, _have—to respect that. If she wants to be left alone, then let her be. Let Annie decide. She's an adult, she can make her own decisions, and you can't treat her like a damsel in distress. Forget about her if that's the case. Never mention her name again and live your life again. She's _one _girl—one girl you _accidentally _turned." George patted Mitchell's back and then stood up, walking to the door. "Now," he said, stopping before he left. "Come down stairs and have some dinner. Then, have a think about what should happen. Okay?"

"Okay," Mitchell forced a smile, but when George turned back, Mitchell's teeth clenched. _Trying to forget about her is like trying to bite your own teeth. I can't just forget about her, like one click of my fingers, and she's gone. No, it doesn't work that way—it never works that way._

Annie.

The next week was nice for Annie, and she enjoyed having the time off to think and relax. Her week long holiday went as followed: she went on _two _shopping sprees with Lauren, talked about their pre-vampire lives, watched trashy love movies and slept. The time she had off gave her the chance to think about what she wanted to do next. She certainly didn't want to stay with Herrick for the rest of her life, but if she did, where would she go? Home? She didn't have a home anymore. To Mitchell? No, that would be wrong. But to be fair, Mitchell seemed like a vast improvement over Herrick and the other vampires—besides Lauren, she was her only friend in this hell. Annie wondered why she even chose Herrick in the first place. Was it to get revenge on Mitchell? She didn't know, but what she _did _know was that she's been regretting her decision since she made it. _At least Mitchell will take me in regardless. I still have somewhere to go to. _But how would she escape Herrick? She probably wouldn't be able to considering she's _always _under watch by somebody. Hell, for all Annie knew, Lauren could be one of his spies.

Lauren told her that Herrick wanted to see her as soon as possible, and as expected, David was outside waiting patiently. He drove her to the funeral parlour and walked inside, trying her best to forget about the cheers from the other vampires. Obviously, they've either heard, or seen what she did to that poor guy last week. The cheering wasn't endearing, it was horrible. A reminder of what she did. And for _what?_

Finally, she had gotten to his office and she took a seat, slumping down in her chair. He gave her a look, and she rolled her eyes, sitting back up straight.

"How was your break?" he asked as he signed something, his eyes glued on her the entire time.

"Good, thanks."

"Ah, that's lovely—you deserved it. Everyone's been talking about it, you know? You're quite a celebrity around here now." He smiled.

"My parent's would be _so _proud of me." Annie retorted. This new snarky attitude was weird; she didn't know where it was coming from.

He eyed her again, his eyes narrowing in on her. "Yes, I'm sure they would be proud of their little Annie." Annie's eyes darted around; she hated lengthy moments of eye-contact with Herrick. It made her skin crawl. He waved a hand and continued talking. "Anyway, we need to talk about phase two of our plan."

"Phase _two_?" she asked. _Oh no, don't make me do it again._

"Yes," Herrick nodded solemnly. "Now, we've captured his attention with the video—he's interested now. And we need to take advantage of that. I need you to see him now, and I need you to act sad and depressed and say something along the lines of 'Herrick's dangerous; he wants me to get you to his side, blah blah blah. I want to feel safe. I want you to help me' all of that crap. Then, you do what you have to do."

"And what's that?"

"You have to shag him, love."

"That didn't work the first time," Annie shook her head, leaning in. "So why would it now?"

"Ah," Herrick smiled, raising a finger in the air. "Now that he's seen the video, it's got his attention. It'll be harder for him to resist. I know you've got it in you, Annie. I mean what you did to that poor fellow last week was…brilliant, to say the least. Just do what you did before, and it'll be over before you know it."

"I don't want to do it." She blurted out, and his playful smile had vanished.

His lips twisted. "What?"

"I don't want to have sex with Mitchell. I don't want to use my sexuality to help you. You're using me, and I don't want to be used like that."

"Welcome to the real world, Annie," he said, keeping his calm, but it was only a matter of time before he blew. "People will use you, and you'll use people. We're all animals and liars here, all trying to survive and reach the top of the mountain, and if we take some people down along the way, then so be it. That's the price of success. _It's kill or be killed_, Annie. Suck it up and do what you're told to, or I'll have to find other ways to get it through your skull."

Annie swallowed and curled her lip inward to stop herself from crying. _What's it with me and men who just love to make my life a living hell? _It was like a light had lit up above her head when she came up with her own plan. She would do as he said, find Mitchell and talk to him, but she'll use that opportunity to run away from Herrick. Yeah, that _just _might work.

But it was a heavy risk.

One, though, she was willing to take.

"Fine," she forced a smile, crossing her legs and leaning back onto the chair. "Where do I find him?"

"At the hospital, not too far from here. David will drive you, like always."

"He works at a hospital? Is he a doctor or something?"

Herrick found that funny. "What? God, no, Mitchell? A doctor? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. No, he's a porter. He mops up piss and shit for five pounds an hour or something like that. So many jobs that would better suit the lad and he chooses _that._ It's ridiculous, really."

"Okay," Annie breathed out, smiling as she got up from her chair. "I'll be off now." But before she could leave, he grabbed her wrist and twisted her in forward.

"Talk down to me like that again and I'll stake you myself you little bitch. Do what you're told. _Never _disobey me, are we clear?" The pain kept growing, and the pain lasted longer because her words were caught in her throat like a nasty lump.

"Yes," she croaked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Excellent," his lips twisted into a wry smirk. He went back to his work, and Annie withdrew quickly. _One day, _she promised herself, although it was an empty promise, it still made her feel better, the thought of getting revenge. She wanted revenge on so many people, and she couldn't wait to _finally _have it.

David took her to the hospital and Annie got out of the car, moving over to his window to talk. "I might be a while. You can go now; I'll find my way back."

"Are you sure? I'll be happy to wait."

"No," she smiled sweetly, "that's fine, really. I want to walk around anyway."

"As you wish," he said. "If you need me, just call me."

"Will do." Annie smiled at him as he drove away.

Annie walked inside with her arms around her chest, hugging herself so she could gather some warmth. It was a big hospital, easy to get lost in, but she went in anyway. She didn't mind wasting time trying to find him, it just meant she had more time without Herrick, and that's all that mattered.

Annie had walked for a good half an hour until she turned a corner and saw a guy standing with his back to her. He was the first guy she saw in scrubs with a bucket and a mop and the first guy she saw with black curly hair. It was definitely Mitchell.

"Mitchell?" she called out, walking towards him slowly with her arms crossed.

He turned around and his eyes grew wide when he saw her. Dropping his mop, he ran towards her and lifted her up for a hug. He squeezed her and buried his head into her neck. It was a nice feeling, a feeling she hadn't really felt in a long time.

She found herself hugging him back, her head also digging into his shoulder. Eyes closed, she breathed in and murmured something into his skin. He let her go.

"What are you doing here?" he asked frantically. "Has something happened? I saw the video. How are you doing? Did he send you here?" He kept rambling on, and Annie found it strangely cute.

"I'm fine," she said, flattening the wrinkles in her jeans. She swallowed the lump in her throat and continued. "And yeah, he sent me."

"Jesus," he groaned. "What does he want from me now?"

"He wants me to seduce you, or something like that—_phase two, _he calls it."

"What was phase one?"

"The…" she came closer and whispered. "…vampire video."

"Oh," Mitchell said, trailing off. "But what does the video have to do with anything?"

"He thinks that you'll be more willing to do what I say since you've seen the video. Like you would follow me around like a horny toad or something like that."

Mitchell laughed nervously and she eyed him for a moment. "Anyway," Annie continued. "I've decided that…" she trailed off, lifting herself up and down on her heels. "That I'm leaving Herrick—for good."

"Really?" Mitchell said, his eyes lighting up.

"_Yeah_, he's a monster. I mean, we all are, but he's the worst."

"There are people who are a thousand times worse than Herrick is, but hopefully you'll never have to meet them." Mitchell paused and moved a stray curl from her face. "He can't hurt you anymore, Annie. I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks," she smiled at the reassurance. _This is for the best._

Annie drew in a sharp breath and clutched her stomach, groaning.

"What? Are you okay?"

"Just a bit thirsty, is all."

"How long has it been?"

"About a week—not since the…_incident._"

"How bad has the pain been?"

"Pretty bad. Like a seven or eight." Annie felt light headed. The pain hasn't been that bad before, and that scared her. It was like something was scratching inside her, begging for blood, banging on the walls of her flesh, demanding it.

Mitchell chewed his fingernails and scrunched his nose, turning his head, as if he was having a debate inside his head. "Meet me at the car park at around 5:30. I'll find a way to soothe the pain for the meantime."

"Are you going to give me," she hushed her voice, _"bagged blood?_"

"No, not bagged, but not fresh either. Look, just meet me there and I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Okay."

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review, it really does help me! **


	10. Chapter 9 - End Of The Line FINALE

**WARNING:** This chapter contains abuse. So, if that's triggering for you, I recommend not reading any further. Thank you, and enjoy the chapter.

Annie.

There were a few more hours to kill until she could see him again, a couple of more hours, and she'll be on her way to freedom—well, as much freedom as she could get, she was still a vampire after all.

There was nothing on the telly, nothing that would keep her occupied for a few hours. Annie sat up and walked to the DVD case to see what Lauren had. Nothing had peaked her interest. Groaning, she turned and sank down onto the couch, her hands falling between her legs, tapping the air as she made a blubbering sound with her mouth. It was going to be a long five hours, she thought.

Annie decided that she should pack her bags in preparation. No doubt, she would be leaving soon. Annie grabbed a suitcase and packed everything she owned in there, occasionally pressing down to make everything fit and zip. Annie knew that she had to hide her bag, just in case Lauren saw it and freaked out. It wasn't selfish, was it? Was it selfish that, for once, Annie was thinking of her own safety? Was it selfish that she wanted to start over and free herself from the shackles of her vampirism? She knew fully well that she wouldn't _really _be free, but it was a step in the right direction, and maybe, _someday, _she could beat it completely.

But that seemed irrational.

Annie tucked her bag under the bed, and a stab of guilt shot through her. _It's okay to be selfish, _she told herself, but she still didn't believe it. _Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, even if it doesn't seem okay. It's kill or be killed out there. _That seemed to soothe some of the ache, but she hoped that in time the guilt would go away.

Annie stretched herself out, yawning. She figured it would be good to take a nap, she was so exhausted lately, and it seemed like she would never shake off the feeling. Annie crawled under her sheets and slept.

It was almost dark when she woke. Her eyes fluttered open and she was blinded for a moment by the small beam of light shining through her door. Annie made a half groaning-half moaning sound as she peeled the sheets off herself. Annie shuffled to her window and watched as tiny little snowflakes swayed and fell from the sky. It was a pretty scene.

But then she remembered Mitchell.

She turned to the clock and saw that she was almost fifteen minutes late. _Shit! _The race was about to begin. Annie ran to her door and opened it, heading for the bathroom to get out of her clothes and into the shower. It took Annie seven minutes to finish her shower—a new record for her.

Annie grabbed her bag and picked a shirt, jeans and a jacket. She kicked the bag underneath her bed just before Lauren came knocking. Annie cursed under her breath and hid behind the tall mirror. Lauren came in casually, as if she wasn't walking in on Annie changing. Annie began putting her clothes on as Lauren talked.

"What's the rush?" Lauren asked.

"I have to meet up with Mitchell, and I'm running late."

"Oh," said Lauren, "Let me guess, Herrick business?"

Annie nodded, jumping up and down as she pulled her jeans up. Tight squeeze, but that didn't matter. She just needed to leave as soon as she could. But she still had to do her hair, or else she'll be meeting Mitchell with an afro.

"It might be a late night," said Annie as she moved over to the bathroom again to grab the blow dryer. Lauren followed. "So don't wait up, yeah?"

"I'm not your mother, Annie." Lauren chuckled as she leaned on the door frame. Annie brushed and dried her hair until it was okay. But for safe measure, she put a beanie over it.

Annie pushed past Lauren and headed for the door, slipping her shoes on. Annie stopped and moved her hands around. "Alright, I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Lauren nodded, arms crossed. "Dinner will be in the oven if you want it later."

"Thanks." Annie turned the door knob, but Lauren stopped her.

"Hey, take this." Lauren handed her Annie's jacket.

"Oh, yeah, thanks."

And with that, she was off.

There was a thin layer of ice forming beneath her feet, so Annie couldn't exactly run to the hospital. She was too clumsy to even try to. So she just power walked her way there.

It was almost pitch black when she arrived at the hospital, and she couldn't spot Mitchell anywhere. It worried her. What if he left thinking she had changed her mind? She was over half an hour late, after all. With her arms crossed, she pushed on further, looking for a sign of Mitchell. He wasn't on any of the benches, he wasn't anywhere _around _the building, either, so she figured that he had left. It was too cold to wait out here anyway. She decided to see if he was at home.

It was a long walk to Mitchell's house. Annie swore that she would get hypothermia if she stayed in this weather any longer. For some reason, she couldn't remember where the house was. It wasn't far from the hospital, was it? Did she pass her turn? _Ugh. _But finally, she stumbled across a dimly lit street and found a little pink house sitting on the corner. She hoped it was his house.

Annie walked up to the top step and knocked on the door. She breathed out, and a puff of white smoke escaped her lips before floating above her and whisking away in the air. Annie's legs shifted from side to side.

The door opened and there was George. His eyes narrowed in on her, as if he didn't know if it was her or not.

"Annie?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "Is that you?"

Annie nodded.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Mitchell." She smacked her lips.

"He's not here, actually." George leaned against the door. "Why are you looking for him? Are you here to get him back with Herrick? Because I'm _not _allowing that to happe—"

"_Relax_," Annie breathed, her teeth jittering. "I'm not here to take Mitchell away from you, even though I'm supposed to, but that's irrelevant. We agreed to meet up after he finished work tonight, but I went there and he wasn't around. I was running late, so I figured he must've left."

"Oh," George said, brows furrowing. "Are you sure he wasn't there? Maybe he was working late. Did you check with them?"

"No, I didn't."

"Hm. So he wasn't _anywhere_?"

"It was dark, but I still didn't see any sign of him."

"I'll call him, and see where he is." George said, opening the door wider. "Come in and wait on the couch, you must be freezing out here."

"Yeah," Annie breathed out, chuckling. "It's a bit nippy out there."

Annie stepped inside and took her beanie off, shaking the snow off it. She headed for the couch and sat down, waiting as she watched George grab his phone. George lifted the phone to his ear, tapping his foot as he waited. He stood there for a bit, mumbling little things like, "Pick up, Mitchell, come on." But it was obvious that Mitchell wasn't answering. So he tried again, and again, and again.

Annie crossed her arms over the back of the couch, resting her chin on her arms. George put down the phone and looked at her, shaking his head, no. Worry shot through Annie, she feared the worst, but it was probably nothing. She was just over-reacting, but in their current situation, anything was possible.

"Maybe we should wait a few minutes and try again, maybe his phone is off?" Annie said, but George cocked his head to the side, shrugging slightly.

"Mitchell doesn't turn his phone off, usually."

"What happens now?"

"I guess," George said as he walked over, plonking himself down on the couch with a sigh, "we wait."

Annie turned to face George. "What if something's happened?"

"I don't think he's in any sort of trouble but—"

As if on cue, the phone rang. Annie and George exchanged a look before George picked it up, but to their dismay, it wasn't Mitchell, but rather, Herrick.

"_Put it on loudspeaker!_" Annie whispered.

"George?" Herrick asked.

There was a pause, but George responded. "Yeah?"

"Ah, it's lovely to hear from you again."

"_What _do you want?" asked George, his voice impatient. "How did you get our number?"

"It was quite simple, really. It's saved here on Mitchell's phone."

"You have Mitchell?" Annie cut in, and she heard Herrick scoff.

"Annie? That you? My, what are you doing over there?"

"_Trying _to do what you asked, but you've ruined it."

George looked up but Annie shook her head, mouthing, "Follow my lead."

"Yes," Herrick sighed. "You see, that plan was, uh, a trick, really."

"A _trick_?"

"A trick. You see, I knew what you were going to do from the start. It was all a matter of time before it clicked in your head that Mitchell could save you and rescue you from me. I have eyes, you see, and ears, _everywhere, _and they tell me everything. They've been following you, and they told me exactly what time and location you two would be meeting. All I had to do was wait for the right time, and well, you know the rest."

"You bastard." George spat.

Herrick made a _tsk _sound. "Uh, uh, uh."

Annie grabbed the phone from George's hands. "Give us Mitchell back—_now_."

"If you want him," she could almost hear him smirking, his voice was hoarse, "_come and get him_." The dial tone sounded, and the call was over.

There was a silence between the two of them for a moment as they stared at phone. Annie looked up, and so did George.

"What are we going to do?" George asked.

"We're going to get him back."

"What about you?"

"What about _me_?"

"It's a trap for you as well." George explained. "He knows you're coming back for Mitchell. He'll let me go, probably, well, they might kill me, but they'll keep you with Mitchell. You two will be prisoners. Mitchell's the bait. This is where it ends, Annie. They've cornered us."

"Maybe," Annie murmured. "But maybe not."

"It's a suicide mission."

"Yeah," said Annie. "But it's the only one we've got."

Mitchell.

Mitchell groaned as they took the bag off his head, the light blinded him for a few seconds. But as his eyes adjusted, he saw Herrick sitting on a chair in front of him. Herrick leaned over, smiling. Mitchell opened his mouth to speak, but he had tape over his lips. He also tried to move his hands, but they were bound behind his back.

Mitchell fought, and he fought, but to no avail. Herrick clicked his fingers and a man came towards Mitchell. The man ripped the tape off and Mitchell cried out.

"A little softer, next time." Mitchell grumbled.

"You're awake, lovely." Herrick said. "It's nice to see you again, Mitchell."

"You _kidnapped _me?"

"I wouldn't call it _kidnapping, _per say," Herrick sat up and walked around Mitchell. "I would call it _borrowing _you for a bigger purpose."

"And what would that purpose be?" Mitchell asked, looking up, his curls—now drenched in sweat—fell over his eyes.

"To get you and Annie back, of course." Herrick walked to a table and poured himself a drink. "Oh, where are my manners? Would you like a glass?"

Mitchell eyed him. "Nah, I'm right, _thanks_."

"Don't you worry, Mitchell," said Herrick. "Your friends will be here soon, surely, and they'll get you back. Well…they'll _try _to get you back, but fail."

"What'd you mean?" Mitchell asked, panting slightly. "You're going to kill them right in front of me?"

"Oh," Herrick waved his hand in dismissal. "I won't kill _both _of them." Mitchell sighed in relief. Herrick lifted the cup to his lips and chuckled. "Only George."

Mitchell's eyes flew up, and he began fighting again. "Don't you _fucking _dare touch him—don't even touch Annie. Whatever this is, it's between you and me, leave them out of it!"

"Threats, really? And here I thought we were _finally _getting along."

"_Fuck you!_" Mitchell cried out.

"Your selfless-ness towards your friends is admirable, Mitchell. It's just like in the war, when you sacrificed yourself for your men. I guess you never turned into a complete monster, eh?"

Mitchell didn't respond; he was too tired to respond. His vision became blurry, but he saw Herrick step towards him, kneeling down. Mitchell thought he was going to be sick.

"Sleep now, John," Herrick said, pushing some hair from Mitchell's face. "You'll need your strength. Don't worry; you won't be knocked out for long."

Annie.

They didn't have a car, it was still probably in the car park of the hospital, but they also didn't have the keys. They had discussed and agreed on a plan, even if it was stupid. They had no choice. They needed to get Mitchell back, one way or another. She had to defeat Herrick, it was now or never. Annie put her beanie back on and walked out the front door. George locked the door as he left.

There was a honk coming from a car which was parked across the street. The driver turned the lights on and off. Curious, Annie went to investigate. George told her not to go, but she ignored him.

As Annie approached, the window rolled down, revealing David in the front seat. Annie rubbed her red nose and looked to one side, chuckling silently. "What are you doing here, David?" She asked, leaning in towards the window.

"I've been, uh, instructed to bring you to HQ." David said. He sounded serious; no longer did he have the playful tone he would always greet her with. And that scared her a little. "Herrick's orders."

Annie sighed and turned around, barely seeing George's figure in the dark. She waved her hand over, signalling him to come over, and he reluctantly did so.

"Get in the car," she said, cocking her head towards the car.

"Why?" George asked, crossing his arms. "Who's that?"

"David, he's been my driver for the last two weeks. He's going to take us to see Herrick."

"How can we trust him?"

"Because _I _trust him." Annie enunciated every word with conviction. "Now, please, get in the car. The sooner this is over, the better."

George nodded and got into the car, followed by Annie. The ride was silent. George got out of the car as soon as it stopped, but Annie lingered in her seat for a few seconds. She leant over to David and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, the corners of his lips threatening to twitch up.

"It was thanks, for being my friend—my _only _friend while I've been here."

He chuckled. "It was no problem, little lady."

"I know, but really, _thanks_."

George tapped at the window impatiently, and Annie groaned. "That's my cue to leave."

"Yeah." David mumbled.

Annie was about to leave when David stopped her. "Be safe, yeah?"

Annie breathed out before exiting the car.

It was time to get Mitchell back.

And she hoped that she would live to see another day.

The place wasn't swarmed, like they thought it would be, rather, it was almost empty—eerily empty, actually—and almost every door was opened, as if it was inviting them in. George was reluctant to press on, but Annie grabbed his hand and pulled him further. They _had _to get Mitchell back.

The open doors led to a fairly empty room. It was almost all concrete, the walls were sprinkled with dots of dirt and, what Annie assumed was, blood. There was a table on the far end of the back wall, with some objects on it; however, Annie didn't know what they were. In the middle of the room, she saw a man slumped down on a chair, his hands bound behind his back. She could've sworn she heard him groan.

Herrick came out of nowhere, smirking, a drink in his hands.

"Ah," he said, "There you are."

"What did you do Mitchell?" Annie growled.

"We just gave him a little something to help him sleep," Herrick explained, "He hasn't really been himself, lately, hasn't gotten much sleep ever since he dragged you into this world."

She knew that was meant to wound her, and it _did_, but she hid it. _He's just trying to get you down. _Annie shuffled over to one of the tables, grabbing a hold of something and tucking it into her jeans.

"Don't worry," Herrick assured her, a smile playing on his lips. "He'll wake up soon, and then the fun shall begin."

"What?" asked George, finally speaking. "Are we going to sit around with some tea as we wait for him to wake up?"

"If you want, yeah." Herrick shrugged, taking a sip of his drink.

There was a sound coming from Mitchell's direction, and Annie rushed over, putting her arm around his shoulder, her face full of worry.

"Mitchell?" she whispered. "Are you okay?" Her eyes scanned his face; he was sweating, his hair was sticking to his face, so she brushed it away. She saw his lips moving slightly, as if he wished to speak, but he couldn't find the strength. Rising, Annie moved over to Herrick. Two men on either wall were about to pull her away, but Herrick raised his hand, and they drew back.

"This ends here, Herrick."

Herrick drew in a sharp breath, cocking his head to the side. "I don't think it will, Annie. You're not strong enough to take me on."

"It's two against one, Herrick," she said, "I think we can take you on. Can't we, Georgie?"

Annie turned her head to George, who made a, _huh, _sound before straightening himself up and nodding strongly. _Thanks for the support, George. _Ignoring that, she turned back to Herrick who took another sip of his drink.

"It's two against an entire building full of loyal vampires, actually." He corrected, lifting his finger up. "Nice try, though."

Something clicked inside her, and she tried to supress it, but she couldn't. It clawed her insides, screamed at her, begged her to let it out, set the monster free. Tired of holding her feelings back, she let it free, and it ended up slapping Herrick. Her hand was red and in agony. _How strong is this guy? _But he lifted his head back up, his hand holding his—now, thankfully—red cheek. He mumbled a curse and a sense of pride filled Annie, a shot of confidence.

She leaned in. "You have _no idea _how strong I am, Herrick. I could rip your army apart with my bare teeth if I wanted to. This is between you and me. You can't hide behind your little army anymore."

"Get away from him, Annie." Mitchell groaned. Annie spun around, but she was quickly seized by the two men. They locked their grip on her arms, and she struggled to free herself. They turned her back to Herrick, who took another sip of his drink. "If you wanted it one on one, then so be it."

And with that, they began dragging her away. She kicked and fought, screaming and yelling expletives to the men. George was seized too, and was dragged to another location. They dragged her away, too.

Annie bit down hard on one of the arms, and he cried out in pain, releasing her. Annie's fangs had slid out, and thus vampire Annie was released. Annie was about to pounce, but Herrick came in through the door, wiping his hands with a handkerchief. He sighed and waved his hand in the air. Both men bowed and exited the room. There was a loud click, and Annie knew that they locked the door. _Good, _she thought. _It's just me and him now. _

_You know you're not going to win, right? _A voice whispered hoarsely. _He's going to rip you to shreds, and for what? For Mitchell? The man who made you a monster? _Pushing the voice aside, she collected herself.

Herrick stood there and waved his hands around. "Are we going to start this thing or not? I have other stuff to do, and quite frankly, I would love for it to be done before the night has ended."

Annie stepped closer.

"Have you actually ever been in a fight? Like a proper, fist, life or death fight?" He asked, but he already knew the answer. Annie stood there, speechless, and he continued. "I thought not. Annie, can I ask you something?"

"No."

"Well, I'm going to ask anyway." Herrick grinned. "Why are you sacrificing yourself? Is this some sort of martyr thing? Because it's just stupid and, let's face it, un-necessary."

"I'm protecting my friends, and I'm ending what we have together."

"Your friends?" he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Her fists clenched, but she began to count in her head, calming herself and her breathing. _One. Two. Three. _"They're _not _your friends, Annie! George is only doing this for Mitchell, the only person he has—the only _protection _he has, but you…" He paused, his eyes scanning her. "You're nothing. Mitchell's only helping you because he feels _sorry _for you, he hated what he did and he wanted to just clear his head. Other than that, he doesn't care. He never cared for Lauren, she just clung to him, but he had no intention of helping her, she was too much of a problem. And you know what happened to her?" He waited for Annie to answer, but she didn't, she was in shock from hearing about Lauren. "She was left to her own devices. You, my sweet, will end up the same way when he's done with you. Over a hundred years, he's been here—been a vampire. Do you really think he stays friends and helps _every _victim? Do you really think you're different? You're the one who will save him, and he'll save you? It's a foolish idea, Annie."

Annie could feel it happening; she could feel his words ripping her apart. This was his plan all along, to bring her down so she'll stop fighting, but she wouldn't give up _that _easily. She knew Mitchell didn't feel that way, and even when the doubt was in her mind, she hid it, pushed it deeper and deeper into her mind. She chewed her lip. Annie had to think of a way to strike back, and she had to think of it fast. Thanks to her lack of knowledge about Herrick, she didn't know what to say to him that would bring him down. But, alas, there was nothing to be said. All her wit had left her.

"Nothing to say?" he chuckled. "Ah, chin up, Annie. It'll be over soon." He began stretching out, and she thought that would be a good time to start striking. Since her wit had left her, she decided that perhaps fighting would end it. It was a stupid thought—a thought that would surely get her killed, but it was worth trying.

Annie breathed in and pounced forward, ready to lay her first punch. Herrick was all too fast as he grabbed her mid-air and threw her to the other side of the room. Her entire body ached, and her head throbbed. She lifted her hand to her head, touching her scalp lightly, she felt something sticky—it was blood. Anger rushed through her, the adrenaline was pushing some of the pain away. Putting her hand on the wall as support, she rose slowly, limping towards Herrick who was taking his blazer off.

He rolled his sleeves up. "That the best you got?" He cooed, furrowing his eyebrows. Her legs were shaking as she took her steps, and tears were threatening. But she didn't want to show weakness, she didn't want this to be over as soon as it began. _He can't win. _

Annie dodged his next move by mere inches, and she was able to rush behind him to put her arm over his neck. He reeled back as she pushed back on his throat, and he made some sort of half-gurgle, half-laugh sound. Heated, Annie gritted her teeth and pulled harder.

"What are you laughing at?" she growled through clenched teeth.

He struggled to speak for a moment, and the pause annoyed her even more. She pulled down once more, and repeated her question. He laughed again.

"You think you're going to win this war?" His voice was hoarse, and every now and again, he would make another gurgle sound. "Do you think taking me away would stop all this? _You're wrong! _There'll be another after me, and another, and another. We have a hierarchy, and the list is long, too. Killing me may bring you satisfaction, it may give you peace, but it will _never _end this."

Annie knew he was right, this wouldn't solve anything, but she still had an urge to finish what she started. She wanted him dead, she wanted him to suffer and cower and cry—she wanted him to _beg _for mercy. Annie bit down on her lip hard, so much so that she could taste the blood slowly running out. Annie grabbed her free hand and clawed his face, her nails dug into his flesh, and he cried out.

He had enough strength to free himself, but he was wounded. He doubled over, his hands over his face, crying out in agony. He threw curse after curse at her. There was blood underneath her nails, and for some reason, the sight filled her with joy and pride. The feeling scared her; it was new and alien to her. But what shocked her even more, was the fact that she _liked _the feeling.

He was still doubled over, and she knew that this might just be her last and only chance at winning. Annie took some deep breaths, and continued her counting from before. _Four. _She took another step. _Five. _And another step. _Six, seven, eight, nine. _Annie stopped in front of him, and he rose slowly.

The claw-marks were visible on his skin, and she was glad that she was able to wound him like that, to prove that even _he_ could bleed and suffer. Blood was slowly running down his face, and she could see the indents in his flesh change in colour. "You're_ not _going to win." He whispered once more, his last attempt at bring her down, it seemed, but it wasn't going to work. Perhaps even he knew that.

Annie moved her hand back and tucked it beneath her shirt, grabbing something. Annie gripped the wood tightly, so much so that her palm began to sweat. Annie stepped closer, scanning his entire body for an opening.

_Ten. _

Annie kicked him in the stomach, and he cried out, whirling back and cursing again. _I've got you now. _This was almost over, and for that, she was grateful. Annie flourished the stake high in the air, but he was too quick for her. His strength had returned, and he knocked it out of her hand. It flew to the other side of the room, and she spun around, ready to run for it, but he grabbed her legs mid-run. She fell forward, her chin hitting the concrete. There was a horrible crack that filled the air, and her mouth began to bleed. Annie scrambled forward, but he grabbed her legs again. Annie collected the blood from her mouth and spat it out. A horrible red blob landed on his nose, and he grimaced, wiping it away with his palm.

"You little _bitch!_" He whispered.

Annie turned back, crawling towards the stake. He beat her to it, though, as he jumped over her and grabbed the stake. He was standing in the corner, so if she got up quick enough, she could corner him and take it from him, but that was too risky, he could stab her right there and then. Annie chewed her lip, her eyes darting around the room for something to grab.

There was a chair in the far side of the room, and she mumbled thanks for it being there. Annie's legs were aching so much that she could barely grasp enough strength to stand up, so she pulled herself forward as fast as she could. Herrick was following close behind her slowly, probably to prolong her pain. Annie felt a stab of pain in her chin, and she looked down. Her shirt was drenched with blood coming from her chin; she must've busted it open when she fell. But that didn't really matter now.

Annie held onto the chair and used _every inch _of power within her to stand up. Annie grabbed the chair and flattened it so she could hold it above her head. Her arms were shaking, threatening to fail her, but she kept them strong. She was _so _close now.

"Really, Annie?" Herrick panted, smiling, as if she was a child. "A chair? A cliché, don't you think?"

"You got anything better?" she retorted, her jaw shaking from the pain. God, the pain was verging on unbearable, a part of her just want to give up and lay down, but no, she couldn't, she was too proud to sit down and plead for mercy. She had enough of doing that.

"Uh," he looked at the stake, then back to her. "I have a _stake_, Annie. And you have a chair. Which one is going to _kill _a vampire better?"

Annie was silent; she didn't have enough strength to speak. Well, she didn't have the strength to do anything, really. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open.

"Give up, Annie." He whispered, stepping closer. "I'll make the pain go away. Just give me the chair, and we'll call it even, yeah?" It was a trap, she knew, but she couldn't fight it anymore. All at once, her body seemed to shut down, and she dropped the chair. Her legs fell beneath her, and her knees fell to the ground. Annie wanted to scream out in pain, but her cry was naught but a soft whimper.

Almost cat-like, he pounced forward, trapping her beneath him. Herrick dropped the stake aside. It was clear now that he had no intention of killing her, and that confused her. This was his chance to end it all, to throw Annie aside and never think of her ever again. His hand stroked her face.

It was almost like he read her mind. "I'm not killing you, Annie."

Annie barely croaked out a why.

"_Because_," he began, "you're far too valuable to me, to us—to _vampirism_, really. You're strong, mentally and physically, I can feel it. I can feel the rage and anger pulsing through you like a heartbeat. I need you and Mitchell. You two are the key to making the _New Age _work. You'll be like the poster boy and girl for vampirism. All around the world, vampires old and new, will bow at your feet; they'll _strive _to be like you. You'll be gods among men, you and Mitchell—and _me, _of course."

"You're lying." Annie muttered. "And I don't want to be a part of your _New Age _thing. I don't want to be a poster girl. I want to be _human_."

"You need to face the reality, Annie," he growled. Her eyes darted around, trying to avoid his gaze. Her eyes fell on the stake. Chewing her lip, her eyes flickered back and forth. He noticed for he grabbed her chin and turned her attention back to him. Annie cried out again, and his fingers were stained with blood. "You'll never be human ever again. So you should reap the rewards and perks of joining me—of joining the _revolution_."

Annie wriggled her body, trying her best to move her arm towards the stake, but with almost no luck. He chuckled, and she tried again. Herrick sighed and kicked the stake away from her reach.

Leaning in closer, he whispered. "Give into it. This is the next stage of human evolution. _We _are the superior species. Join me, and the pain goes away. Join me, and you'll be with your precious Mitchell again—for eternity, if that suits you. Hey, you could be the Brad and Angelina of vampires, who knows?"

"_I don't want to join you_."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Well, I tried." He jumped off her and went for the stake. It was clear now that he was going to take matters into his own hands, and she feared that it meant her death. Annie mustered up her remaining strength and got up. It seemed like some of it was returning to her—not much, but enough to give her somewhat of a fighting chance.

Herrick paused when he saw her rise, he seemed a little confused, but also disappointed. "Really, Annie?"

_Yes, really. _She had to finish this now—no more excuses, no more drawbacks.

Annie ran—well, ran as best she could without falling again—towards him, yelling through the pain. She grabbed his shirt and threw him down; adrenaline was pumping through her again. The stake dropped to the side, and she grabbed it.

Annie jumped on top of him, locking him in beneath her. _This is it, _she realized. _This is where it all ends. _But would it really end here?

Annie lifted the stake high in the air, her arms shaking with anticipation. _Five. Four. Three. Two. _Annie breathed in, chewing her lip as she lined up her shot. Herrick wasn't moving; she figured he knew that this was the end for him.

"There'll be another, Annie," he whispered. "And another, and another. You can't escape us, Annie." Taking one last breath, she squeezed her eyes shut.

_One._

Annie brought it down, with all her strength and her fury. It was done, it was over now. Annie opened her eyes, and saw him struggling, gurgling and choking on the blood which was bubbling from his lips. Blood began to ooze out from the wound, and she fell to the side, limp as ever.

Annie closed her eyes for a moment; she deserved to rest for a moment.

She was just so tired.

**A/N: Well, that was the last chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed reading the series—it was fun to write, and I hope it was fun to read. As always, please leave a review—it really, really, helps. I might write an epilogue, but we'll see how it goes. And I might even write a sequel? Anyway, thank you for reading. *kisses***


End file.
